Urban flash flood vulnerability:spatial assessment and adaptation - a case study in Istanbul, Turkey

The Ayamama River basin in Istanbul is a densely populated urban area that is frequently impacted by flash floods causing damage to people and infrastructure. The IPCC expects that under climate change conditions, more intense precipitation will occur, leading to a higher risk of flash floods. Approaches to assess vulnerability focus on particular hazards without relating to climate change; usually emphasizing either physical or social vulnerability. However, enabling governance systems to deal with risks due to climate change requires participation of local inhabitants and inclusion of local knowledge for planning effective climate change adaptation measures. This paper presents a framework for a spatial assessment of urban vulnerability to flash floods under climate change conditions. Qualitative interviews were conducted to capture local knowledge of citizens in the Ayamama area about flood events and climate change. Spatial multi criteria evaluation was applied to calculate vulnerability indices

The characteristics of bike-sharing usage:case study in Zhongshan, China

Public bike systems have grown in popularity and are expanding rapidly across cities worldwide. Such systems provide access to pickup and drop-off public bikes at numerous bike stations for free or for an affordable fee and aim at increasing bike use and extending the accessibility of traditional public transport systems. A variety of studies have examined the characteristics of bike-sharing systems, mostly in American and European cities and with a focus on user demographics. The objective of this study is to investigate the general characteristics of system usage, in terms of system efficiency, trip characteristics and bike activity patterns, for Zhongshan’s public bike system during a five-month period. The findings show that the system is not very efficient based on usage metrics which are low compared to successful systems in other countries. Demand is relatively high in city centre zones due to high population and activity density. However, there is no clear direction of inbound or outbound trips in rush hours. This may be attributed not only to mixed land use patterns throughout the city, but also to the fact that most trips are local trips over short distance. This could indicate that public bike trips are mainly substitute for walking trips rather than for car or PT trips. On the outskirts, demand and system efficiency are low, indicating that location allocation of stations needs adjustment. In the conclusions, we discuss how these findings can be used for improving the system

Modeling commuter preferences for the proposed bus rapid transit in Dar-es-Salaam

The paper analyzes individual commuter preferences towards the proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. The objective of the survey was to identify how commuters perceive and value the proposed BRT service quality attributes. A stated preference survey of potential users of the proposed BRT was administered to 684 commuters who traveled to the central business district (CBD) on a regular basis. To this end, a special pictorial score card was developed that was suited for the local context and needed to capture the preferences of the commuter respondents. The BRT attributes considered for study are travel time, travel fare, and comfort. The stated choice data were analyzed using a binary logit model. The findings reveal, in order of importance, that comfort is the most valued attribute compared to travel time and travel fare, respectively

Key events and their effects on cycling behaviour in Dar-es-Salaam : abstract + powerpoint

The paper explores key events and investigates their effects on cycling behaviour in the city of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. The objective of the study is to identify specific key events during a person’s life course with a significant effect on change of travel behaviour towards cycling in relation to stage of change. Stage of change is a key construct of the transtheoretical model of behaviour change that defines behavioural readiness (intentions and actions) into six distinct categories (i.e. pre-contemplation, contemplation, prepared for action, action, maintenance, and relapse). By using a binary logistic regression model, it was possible to identify the key events that influenced change of travel behaviour among 450 daily commuters in different stages of change of cycling behaviour. Model results have shown that income generation, poor daladala (public transport) service, and harsh behaviour of daladala operators have a significant impact on changing to maintenance stage. After marriage, after child birth, past incidence of car accident on bicycle, feel shame on bicycle, fear of losing virginity among girls and shifting from small towns to Dar-es-Salaam where cars are the common mode of travel, have a significant impact on cycling especially moving from maintenance to relapse stage of cycling behaviour