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Article
Publication date: 17 October 2023

Hatzav Yoffe, Noam Raanan, Shaked Fried, Pnina Plaut and Yasha Jacob Grobman

This study uses computer-aided design to improve the ecological and environmental sustainability of early-stage landscape designs. Urban expansion on open land and natural…

Abstract

Purpose

This study uses computer-aided design to improve the ecological and environmental sustainability of early-stage landscape designs. Urban expansion on open land and natural habitats has led to a decline in biodiversity and increased climate change impacts, affecting urban inhabitants' quality of life and well-being. While sustainability indicators have been employed to assess the performance of buildings and neighbourhoods, landscape designs' ecological and environmental sustainability has received comparatively less attention, particularly in early-design stages where applying sustainability approaches is impactful.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose a computation framework for evaluating key landscape sustainability indicators and providing real-time feedback to designers. The method integrates spatial indicators with widely recognized sustainability rating system credits. A specialized tool was developed for measuring biomass optimization, precipitation management and urban heat mitigation, and a proof-of-concept experiment tested the tool's effectiveness on three Mediterranean neighbourhood-level designs.

Findings

The results show a clear connection between the applied design strategy to the indicator behaviour. This connection enhances the ability to establish sustainability benchmarks for different types of landscape developments using parametric design.

Practical implications

The study allows non-expert designers to measure and embed landscape sustainability early in the design stages, thus lowering the entry level for incorporating biodiversity enhancement and climate mitigation approaches.

Originality/value

This study expands the parametric vocabulary for measuring landscape sustainability by introducing spatial ecosystem services and architectural sustainability indicators on a unified platform, enabling the integration of critical climate and biodiversity-loss solutions earlier in the development process.

Details

Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-6862

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 June 2018

Silvia Ronchi, Stefano Salata and Andrea Arcidiacono

The spatial development of urban areas affects the characteristics of landscape as well as people’s aesthetic perception of it. Specifically, sprawl results in an urban morphology…

Abstract

Purpose

The spatial development of urban areas affects the characteristics of landscape as well as people’s aesthetic perception of it. Specifically, sprawl results in an urban morphology which is diametrically opposed to the compact city model and which assumes several kinds of patterns: for example “striped”, “ribbon” or “leapfrogged” urban development. Assessing urban morphology in spatial terms is crucial to urban policy, while landscape metrics are the key to a comprehensive understanding of different urban development patterns. The purpose of this paper to design and test an urban morphology indicator (UMI) for the Lombardy Regional Landscape Plan.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes an UMI that can be used to identify the heterogeneity of built-up patterns according to urban porosity, fragmentation and patch shape. This UMI is a result of Esri ArcGIS 10.3 “grouping analysis” which works by applying a spatial statistical metric for clustering geometries in a given geographical area.

Findings

Morphological analysis was used in regional urban development policies with a view to minimising impact on surrounding ecosystems and preserving the natural environment and landscape. It defines 28 different urban morphology patterns in the region, which are divided into systems, polarities and urbanised units.

Originality/value

The proposed methodology differs from those traditionally used in qualitative/descriptive landscape planning and supports the identification of morphological features with quantitative statistical and spatial data, allowing a fine-scale assessment of complex metrics.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2015

Hao Xu

Conservation of green space is crucial to the sustainable urban development of China. Nanjing is a central city in the Yangtze River Delta cluster in eastern China. Owing to…

Abstract

Conservation of green space is crucial to the sustainable urban development of China. Nanjing is a central city in the Yangtze River Delta cluster in eastern China. Owing to urbanization, the green spaces in this city have been affected significantly in terms of their scale and structure. Assessing such changes can provide a basis for environmental protection measures and sustainable development. Using Landsat remote-sensing image data from 1998 and 2007, we constructed a distribution map of the patches of green spaces in Nanjing, and analyzed and assessed the changes in scale and spatial layout of the green spaces using various landscape metrics including CA, PLAND, PD, MPS, LPI, NP, PD, TE, ED, MPI, and LSI. Coinciding with a sharp increase in urban population, the area of green spaces in Nanjing decreased by 27.06% between 1998 and 2007. The patches of green space increased by 39%, and the average area per patch decreased by about 47.52%. Green space patches were found to be unevenly distributed among the districts of Nanjing. In urban areas, significant numbers of such patches were found primarily in various types of parks, while in suburban areas, they were concentrated mainly in the hilly forestlands. Green spaces exhibited tendencies towards fragmentation, miniaturization, and discretization.

Details

Open House International, vol. 40 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2005

Daniel Franco, Anna Bombonato, Ilda Mannino, Pierfrancesco Ghetti and Gabriele Zanetto

Landscape ecology represents an area of theoretical and empirical support of spatial planning, providing parameters such as heterogeneity, connectivity and fragmentation. The aim…

Abstract

Purpose

Landscape ecology represents an area of theoretical and empirical support of spatial planning, providing parameters such as heterogeneity, connectivity and fragmentation. The aim of this study was to use these parameters to evaluate the choices of a real planning tool to protect the biodiversity, to evaluate the applicability limits of concepts and methods used.

Design/methodology/approach

This was achieved by analysing the selected spatial indices and their dependency scale, and by the comparison of these results with regard to spatial biotic parameters estimations (birds and mammals).

Findings

The study confirmed the scale's effect on the indices, unstable at the adopted resolution for extensions up to 6,000‐7,000 meters. The selected indices permitted appreciation of the low effectiveness of the real planning tool in improving conservation of biodiversity. The paper suggests that empirical studies and predictive knowledge at different scales are urgent in this field. To preserve biodiversity, the choices of planning scale should primarily comply with the spatial needs of the various species.

Originality/value

Evaluates a real planning tool to protect biodiversity.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2006

M. Camuffo, F. Benvenuto, M. Marani Abbadessa, L. Modenese and A. Marani

To define synthetic indices of changes of vegetation coverage on salt marshes of the Venice lagoon that might be used to model changes of the entire basin.

Abstract

Purpose

To define synthetic indices of changes of vegetation coverage on salt marshes of the Venice lagoon that might be used to model changes of the entire basin.

Design/methodology/approach

Remote sensing data from the satellite sensor QuickBird were processed to retrieve vegetation coverage in different seasons, i.e. different phenological stages of the halophytic vegetation. These changes have been described by means of landscape metrics (LSM's) and statistical moments.

Findings

LSM's selected have been useful to describe the dominant shapes of vegetation coverage, while the low variations occurred were only partially explained. The first four statistical moments have been only partially functional to the description of temporal variation of the patches.

Practical implications

These indicators, whose performances have been evaluated by the present work, could be used to detect larger variations on longer period and on wider spatial scale. In this way it could also be possible to easily detect the effects of changes on the hydrodynamic regime that may occur in relation with new projected interventions on the Venice lagoon.

Originality/value

This approach has never been applied to salt marshes of the Venice lagoon. The remote sensing data, in particular LSM's and statistical moments applied together, might be valuable tools to detect shape changes in the delicate environment of salt marshes and suggest possible remedies for problems of managing the Venice lagoon.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 April 2017

Todd A. Carpenter and Nettie M. Lagace

In 2013, the National Information Standards Organization launched a three-year project to identify areas of potential community consensus around these new metrics and then develop…

Abstract

Purpose

In 2013, the National Information Standards Organization launched a three-year project to identify areas of potential community consensus around these new metrics and then develop recommended practices in those areas. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

After collecting community input on potential activities, NISO surveyed the community to prioritize five areas of work around which to develop community consensus.

Findings

The NISO Working Groups produced a set of recommended practices that included: definitions and use cases for alternative metrics, applications of metrics for non-traditional scholarly outputs, collections of persistent identifiers around which metrics can be built, and a Code of Conduct for metrics providers.

Originality/value

The development of standards and recommended practices around altmetrics will encourage adoption of these new metrics forms and will add to the trust in those metrics for the academy.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

Keywords

Abstract

Details

The New Metrics: Practical Assessment of Research Impact
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-269-6

Article
Publication date: 14 May 2019

Brack W. Hale

The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential for environmental and social impacts from university-level educational travel programs.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential for environmental and social impacts from university-level educational travel programs.

Design/methodology/approach

This study analyzes the sites visited by 17 education travel programs to the Westfjords (Iceland) from 2014 to 2016. It uses a geographic information system (GIS) project to examine the potential for environmental and social impacts from these programs on local communities and environments. It compares them with similar data on general tourism to the region.

Findings

The results reveal that educational travel programs visit sites that are generally in moderately sensitive areas environmentally and socially. They visit different sites from general tourists and sites that are more sensitive environmentally and socially.

Research limitations/implications

The research area was limited to the Westfjords of Iceland, and thus, the results may not apply globally to all educational travel destinations.

Practical implications

These findings suggest that education travel programs carried out by and for universities the potential to have negative effects on the locations they visit. Universities need to design their educational travel programs so as to limit such impacts to host environments and communities and explicitly educate student participants about sustainable travel behaviors.

Originality/value

This is the first study to combine GIS with several environmental and social metrics to assess impacts from educational travel programs. Further, it is the first study to map the frontstage–backstage continuum as a quantitative metric.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 20 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Abstract

Details

The New Metrics: Practical Assessment of Research Impact
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-269-6

Article
Publication date: 13 October 2020

Paolo Picchi, Simone Verzandvoort, Davide Geneletti, Kees Hendriks and Sven Stremke

The transition to a low carbon future is an emerging challenge and requires the planning and designing of sustainable energy landscapeslandscapes that provide renewable energy…

Abstract

Purpose

The transition to a low carbon future is an emerging challenge and requires the planning and designing of sustainable energy landscapeslandscapes that provide renewable energy while safeguarding the supply of other ecosystem services. The aim of this paper is to present the application of an ecosystem services trade-off assessment in the development of sustainable energy landscapes for long-term strategic planning in a case study in Schouwen-Duivenland, The Netherlands.

Design/methodology/approach

The application consists in three activities: in (1) stakeholder mapping hot spots of ecosystem services and renewable energy technologies in a workshop, (2) landscape design principles being discussed by a focus group, (3) experts gathering the information and proceeding with an assessment of the potential synergies and trade-offs.

Findings

The case study indicates that (1) deploying the ecosystem services framework in planning and design can enhance the development of sustainable energy landscapes, (2) diversified and accurate spatial reference systems advance the trade-off analysis of both regulating and cultural ecosystem services and (3) the involvement of local stakeholders can advance the trade-off analysis and, ultimately, facilitates the transition to a low-carbon future with sustainable energy landscapes.

Originality/value

The originality of this research lies in the creation of an approach for the deployment of ecosystem services in the planning and design of energy transition. This is useful to advance energy transition by enhancing research methods, by providing methods useful for planners and designers and by supporting communities pursuing energy self-sufficiency in a sustainable manner.

Details

Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6099

Keywords

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