Shelter planning based on self-saving concepts in urban residential districts

With increasing population density in Asia, the potential higher risk was resulted from the residential districts with the higher plot ratio, especially in some megapolis (eg. Beijing and Shanghai). Presently it is more difficult for the rescue operation during the disasters because of the decreasing safe space among the buildings as a result of higher buildings and denser the district. Thus, an immediate self-saving action is more important than before during the disaster in the residential districts, and its realization depends on the reasonable shelter planning and its management system. In this study, the factors related to the self-saving were analyzed and concluded by the related the literatures retrieval and case study, and the case study was done by the in-depth interview and questionnaires in three different residential districts in Shanghai. It was found that the following factors related to the self-saving should be considered in the shelters planning: the distribution of the shelters including their space accessibility and area, evacuation passageways, the facilities of the disaster prevention (such as fire hydrant and guide signs) and subsidiary facilities (such as vegetation for the disaster prevention), the social cohesion, awareness of the self-saving and disaster prevention. Simultaneously, the shelters planning countermeasures based on the self-saving were proposed, which provided some theoretical bases for the study and plan of the security residential districts in future

Waterfront development concepts in Indonesia from the perspective of urban planning and environmental sustainability

Rivers, lakes, beaches or other public water bodies have substantial and precious environmental values, and if properly managed, they can be a tremendous element towards a sustainable city. Within the context of urban planning and environmental sustainability, the harmonious balance between built and natural environment could not be avoided. The riverfront development concepts attempt to accomplish this balance by developing the necessary built environment while keeping the natural environment intact and provides ecological service. Since the concept of riverfront development is new to Indonesia or to most cities in Indonesia, it would be a good initiative to promote this concept. The riverfront development concept would bring the positive multiplier effects to urban development and ultimately to the well-being of urban citizens. This paper attempts to address the possibilities of riverfront development concept for its existence from the viewpoint of urban planning and environmental sustainability. This thought is based on personal lookout as well as relevant references. The study was carried out by observing some examples of waterfront development in some cities. Assessment on the regulations of riverfront related development was also undertaken. The study found that present approach on rivers or lakes or other public water bodies as the backyard of the development has brought to various environmental degradation. The riverfront concept is expected to reverse the situation for its numerous social, economic and environmental advantages. We suggest that this concept must be implemented elsewhere in Indonesia due to foreseeable returns towards sustainable urban development and sustainable cities

Dual formal and informal transport modes towards quasi-seamless transit in a developing city

Dual formal and informal transport modes have been complementing one another in Bandung City for more than four decades now. The issue appears due to inability of formal transport to provide adequate services to the citizens. However, this accompaniment has brought Bandung City to a quasi-seamless transportation process as both transport modes play their roles as a continuum. Amid insufficient public transportation system in Bandung City, the informal transport modes have properly paired their formal transport counterparts. This study was conducted in Bandung City, Indonesia, by profiling the transportation users, observing the characteristics of both formal and informal transports, and acquiring the relevant secondary information at city and national levels. The study found that within the issue of appropriateness of few modes of informal transport such as becaks and ojeks, they have shown their contribution to the state of quasi-seamless transit process in the city as well as their impacts to reduce the CO2 emission in comparison to formal fossil fuel-based transportation

Urban greenery a pathway to environmental sustainability in sub Saharan Africa: a case of Northern Nigeria cities

The Northern Region of Nigeria, which is located south of Africa biggest desert - the Sahara, is highly vulnerable to adverse impacts of climate change for some reasons. This paper attempts to review the variance between urban greenery, urban development and the quest for environmental sustainability. A critical review of relevant materials related to the study was carried out. The quantitative nature of the study was backed empirically. Findings from the study reveal that physical development plans for some urban areas have been very ad-hoc and loosely defined. Allocation of open green spaces is not in harmony with the urban population and it mostly characterized by a low percentage. Abuja master plan, for instance, has the highest allocation of 32.87%, while allocation in other master plans fall below 30% with Suleja master plan counts 2.5% only. Outdated master plan and the lack of will power from urban authority in plan implementation has often resulted in the distortion, encroachment, and conversion of green areas to other land uses. Increase carbon emission and pollution especially from the transport sector has been marked by a decline in greenery. Therefore, reducing the sequestration capacity of the urban area, weak urban planning and harsh climatic condition could be regarded as critical challenges. This study suggests the strict adherent to sustainable urban planning that integrates physical development and environmental consideration to enhance greenery. The study also recommends the placement of urban greenery on the same platform with the urban grey infrastructure by urban stakeholders

Implications of present land use plan on urban growth and environmental sustainability in a Sub Saharan Africa City

Land use, urban development and environmental sustainability have become an interesting research arena as urban development would change the city landscape as well as generate environmental degradation. This paper looks at the missing link between land use planning and urban growth, and it implications for environmental sustainability in a selected sub Saharan Africa city of Kaduna, Nigeria. We assessed urban growth from historical GIS data of the city to evaluate the urban expansion. At the same time, regression analysis was used to established relationship between carbon emission and traffic volume in the city. A city characterized by weak land use planning has created a gap leading to uncoordinated land use planning and uncontrolled physical growth. A steady increase of built up area of 8,400.31 hectares in 1982 to an area of 17,120.5 hectares in 2015 can be a reflection of the presence of uncontrolled urban expansion. The lack of coordination between land use planning and urban growth has resulted to environmental ills within the city. One among the ills, is ubiquitous traffic congestion within the city leading to high carbon (CO2) emission. Findings shows a strong connection between emission and volume of traffic. In addition to findings, is the decline of green areas in the city. By this findings, it is suggested that the modern concept of land use planning which embraces flexibility, public participation and integration of environmental issues should be entrenched and allow to take the lead in the process of urban growth

Barriers to the Implementation of Environmental Management Measures in the Operation of Shop- House Enterprises in Bangkok Metropolitan Area

Shop-house enterprises in Bangkok Metropolitan have so far been the best alternative of the citizens to earn income. At the same time, these enterprises also generate negative environmental and health consequences. While facing this dilemmatic situation, the implementation of environmental management measures (EMMs) to deal with environmental and health impacts generated by the enterprises is not presently practical. We identified some potential barriers. However, which one is the most influencing barrier to EMMs we must identify it. The study attempts to understand perceptions of different group of randomly selected stakeholders on the most influencing barriers given fourteen potential barriers to EMMs in Bangkok Metropolitan. The analysis shows that there are four essential barriers as perceived by the stakeholders that needs in-depth attention for the practical application of EMMs. By these critical barriers, policies should be directed to cope appropriately with the issues to accomplish better performance of shop-house enterprises in terms of environment and health

Spatial Pattern, Transportation and Air Quality Nexus: The Case of Iskandar Malaysia

Spatial pattern, transportation, and air quality are three development entities which significantly affecting one another. This nexus exhibits the urbanization imprint accouter transportation generating air pollution as a reflection of spatial distribution. The integration among them is a vital part of development as it affects the societal living environment. It provides unfavorable air quality and directly cause health problems. The developing region of Iskandar Malaysia exhibits huge spatial distribution transformation accompanied by large percentage of urbanization rate, but seems less integration of land use and transportation planning which causes the exaggeration of air pollution. We carry out the research on the nexus of spatial distribution, transportation and air quality in Iskandar Malaysia by analyzing and evaluating the interconnectivity of these three entities. The spatial analysis and evaluation on the land use development pattern and spatial policy shows that the Iskandar development region are growing in the polycentric manners, where the spatial development policy drives the distributional growth of new sub-centers. We undertook a household-based travel survey that reveals the poly-centricity reflected by the de-concentration of workplaces which shifted from the single point towards multiple centers. On the other hand, this phenomenon has created a distributional traffic pattern amid the high dependency on the private vehicles of the citizens in Iskandar Malaysia. With a predominantly fossil fuel consuming vehicles, this has generated air pollution. Based on the traffic survey and the dependency of the citizens on private cars for their daily mobility, the concentration of air pollution is seemingly at risk. This research reflects that Iskandar Malaysia development region currently undergoes towards polycentric development with some new urban centers. We found that land use and transportation planning policies require serious attention as the current trend of spatial pattern development tends to reinforce high dependency on the motorized travel

Understanding the Acceptance of Local Public Officers on Computer-based Urban Spatial Information System

Information technology is developed to assist people in minimizing processing time, reducing errors, increasing the accuracy and simplifying the overall process. The process of recording, retrieving and displaying data and information can thus be easily and accurately undertaken. Information technology in its initial development, however, tends to be too costly and complicated to make a real particularly for people in developing countries. Fortunately, universities as the centers of innovation, can be a game changer for the adoption of the innovative processes, for the benefits of the community at large. In all Indonesian universities, this role is associated with a, so called Tri Dharma Perguruan Tinggi (Three Devotions of Higher Education, TDHE). This paper examines the acceptance of the collaborating officials and the obstacles i.e. internal and environmental factors. We proposed the use of GIS-based technology to coordinate the administrative units of local government at all levels, particularly the Kelurahan as the lowest hierarchy of the administrative unit in local government system. The Kelurahan will then be the spearhead in a local government system in Indonesia in promoting administrative services to all Citizens. We undertook an integrated training and tutorial for select official staff of the Kelurahan on the system. Evaluation of shows that the information system can be used to simplify the collaborators’ activities. The evaluation was done through in-depth interview to the collaborating officials. The collaborators interested in learning more about the system as an innovative way in providing service to the community as well as spatial data input to support urban planning and management

Is mom energy efficient? a study of gender, household energy consumption and family decision making in Indonesia

This study highlights gender-related factors and attempts to understand their influence in residential energy consumption. This pilot study was done in Bandung City, Indonesia. It employed a questionnaire survey and face to face interviews. Questionnaires were randomly distributed to the households in Bandung City. In this study, energy consumption included household uses of power for lighting, entertainment, thermal comfort and cooking. Energy consumption was estimated based upon electrical and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumption. The results showed that when the decisions about energy expenditure and control of energy consumption in the household were solely made by a woman, energy consumption tended to be the lowest. There are three possible ways decision can be made, by the wife, husband and a joint decision. This evidence suggests several things. They are that (1) women are good household energy managers, (2) men may be careless with respect to energy consumption, (3) women may be more cautious about household expenditures, and (4) when joint decisions were made the husband and wife relied-upon-each-other in reaching agreement. This suggests useful entry points for energy efficient initiative

Leadership styles: incentive or disincentive approach in addressing street vendor problems in Jakarta and Bandung, Indonesia

The problems of street vendors have long been experienced by most big cities in Indonesia. A newly emerged city leadership style in Jakarta and Bandung City shows two different approaches towards sustainable solution of street vendor problem. While Governor of Jakarta applies an incentive approach to street vendors by transferring them from the streets of Jakarta to appropriate place, Mayor of Bandung City applies disincentive approach to the buyers of street vendors by giving penalty to those making transaction with the vendors in "red zone". This study was undertaken in Jakarta Metropolitan, the Capital City of Indonesia and Bandung City, the Capital City of West Java Province. The choice of Jakarta and Bandung was based mainly on the new paradigm of city leadership in Indonesia as reflected by these two leaders of the city. They are both out-of-the-box leaders. Both approaches exhibit the positive results on the easiness of traffic in the area, positive image of the area as perceived by most citizens, and cleanliness