Showing papers on "Urban climate published in 1997"

Climate considerations in building and urban design

Abstract: BUILDING CLIMATOLOGY. Comfort Issues and Climate Analysis for Building Design. Architectural Features Affecting the Indoor Climate. Materials Properties and Thermal Performance of Buildings. Passive Solar Heating Systems. Passive Cooling of Buildings. Climatic Characteristics of Housing Types. URBAN CLIMATOLOGY. General Characteristics of the Urban Climate. Urban Design Effects on the Urban Climate. Impact of Green Areas on Site and Urban Climates. BUILDING AND URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES. Building and Urban Design for Hot-Dry Regions. Building and Urban Design for Hot-Humid Regions. Building and Urban Design in Cold Climates. Regions with Cold Winters and Hot-Humid Summers. Index.

Quantifying urban forest structure, function, and value: the Chicago Urban Forest Climate Project

Abstract: This paper is a review of research in Chicago that linked analyses of vegetation structure with forest functions and values. During 1991, the regions trees removed an estimated 5575 metric tons of air pollutants, providing air cleansing worth 9.2 million. Each year they sequester an estimated 315 800 metric tons of carbon. Increasing tree cover 10% or planting about three trees per building lot saves annual heating and cooling costs by an estimated 50 to 90 per dwelling unit because of increased shade, lower summertime air temperatures, and reduced neighborhood wind speeds once the trees mature. The net present value of the services trees provide is estimated as 402 per planted tree. The present value of long-term benefits is more than twice the present value of costs.

Rainforest Cities: Urbanization, Development, and Globalization of the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract: Amazonia has undergone a significant urban transformation since the late 1970s. This is the first comprehensive analysis of urbanization in the Brazilian Amazon. Drawing on comparative household and sectoral survey research, the authors find that the growth of Amazon cities fits no single current theory of urbanization; instead they propose a pluralistic theory of "disarticulated urbanization" to explain the region's varied and volatile settlement patterns.

Cities as environments

Abstract: In starting a new journal about urban ecosystems, it is useful to review some of the dominant themes that have run through recent and historic discussions of cities as environments. Although concern with urban environmental issues may seem to be new, because of the great amount of attention paid during the past several decades to the negative aspects of urban environments – air, water, and soil pollution – there is a long history of thought, writing, and design about cities as environments, extending back throughout most of western history. This long history has modern relevance, but is more often ignored than used. This paper briefly reviews some central aspects of the major ideas about city planning and design, relates these to modern urban dilemmas and contemporary ecological knowledge, and proposes a new synthesis of classical and contemporary ideas. The issues are general, relating to cities around the world, but when examples are given in this paper, the focus is on cities in the United States, because of space limitations and because of an emphasis on the thoughts of Frederic Law Olmsted, the great American planner. In reviewing discussions of urban environments, we make five major points:

Urbanization effects on regional climate change in the case of four large cities of turkey

Abstract: The growing interest in urbanization problems is stimulating detailed studies of their effects on local climate change in the developed world. The absence of such studies in developing countries is restricting many decisions to be made and applied by policymakers. In one developing country, Turkey, results of the study of four urban stations and their neighboring rural sites for the 1951-1990 time period reveal that there is a shift towards the warmer side in the frequency distributions of daily minimum and 21.00 hr temperature difference series. This shift is an indication of urban heat island. The maximum urban heat island intensity trend that is obtained from the temperature differences database agrees well with Oke's (1973) formula for European cities. Seasonal analysis of individual 21.00 hr temperature series suggests that the regional warming is strongest in spring and weakest in autumn and winter. Urban warming is detected to be more or less equally distributed over the year wi th a slight increase in the autumn months. The Mann-Kendall trend test is applied to the temperature difference series, and the urban heat island effect is found to be significant in all urban sites. On the other hand, almost no significant urban effect on precipitation can be detected.

The Growth and Location of High Order Services in the Canadian Urban System, 1971–1991

Abstract: In spite of the considerable economic importance of high order (intermediate demand) services, research on the growth and location of these activities has remained at a fairly aggregate level. The behavior of the individual elements of this group has rarely been documented in detail. In this paper, we seek to determine if individual high order service activities are becoming spatially more concentrated or dispersed across the Canadian urban system, and to determine if differential rates of growth may be observed by region and by urban size category. These issues are of considerable importance in the ongoing debate concerning the impact of the tertiarization of the economy on uneven spatial development. We examine the performance and location of 17 individual high order service activities over a set of 152 Canadian urban areas with populations greater than 10,000 inhabitants. Most of these activities are highly concentrated in a small number of very large urban areas, and their level of concentration decli...

Urban vegetational change as an indicator of demographic trends in cities: the case of Detroit.

Abstract: Urban vegetation impinges upon the physical environment by positively enhancing the microclimate and air and water quality. On the other hand, changes to the physical environment as well as the socioeconomic conditions of urban dwellers affect the health of urban vegetation and species abundance and diversity. This two-way vegetation-environment dynamism makes urban vegetation an ideal meter to gauge the environmental health of cities. Although studies utilizing such a proposition exist with reference to the physical environment, the usefulness of vegetation in monitoring urban social change has received very little attention. In this study the author seeks to find whether changes in urban vegetation can be linked to urban social changes by using Detroit as a case study. Demographic trends in Detroit are analyzed in light of the increasing greenness in the city detected by recent satellite images. Robust relationships between greenness change and demographic factors associated with urban decay (population...

Fog dynamics in an urbanized area

Abstract: Investigations into regional and temporal variations of fog frequency in the metropolitan area of Munich, Germany, reveal a fog maximum zone in the rural outskirts while the urban area itself represents a local fog minimum. This is an element of urban climate. It can be explained by the typical land use — dependent mesoscale thermal structure and the resulting circulation pattern during winter anticyclonic conditions with widespread fog cover. The phenomenon of a fog maximum zone near an urban area is transferable to large cities in environments which are favourable to radiation fog.

Biometeorological studies on urban climate

Abstract: Urban-biometeorology, i.e., biometeorological study on the urban climate is regarded as both old and/or new science. Studies on two topics are reviewed: the thermal or chemical impact of urban climate on human health, and the relation between urban climate and vegetation.

Contained Urban Growth in Post-Independence Malawi

Abstract: In this paper Malawi is used as a case study of an implicit urban development program during the Banda regime that succeeded to a certain extent in slowing the growth of large urban areas while encouraging the proliferation and growth of small urban centers throughout the country. The paper examines the dynamics of population growth and change in Malawi's urban hierarchy during the 1966–1977 and 1977–1987 intercensal periods. An evaluation of the relative success of governmental strategies in redistributing urban population and implementing spatially balanced development across the three regions is also offered. The paper concludes that the development oriented strategies implemented during the Banda era had profound direct and indirect effects on Malawi's urban landscape resulting in a desired trend in population redistribution and urban growth throughout the country.

The Determinants of Urban Concentration

Abstract: Urban concentration differs across countries One determinant of these differences is economic development, which first increases and subsequently decreases urban concentration I condition the degree of urban concentration on the potential of countries to develop a balanced urban system These conditions are approximated by the land area, population density and density of the transportation system, which all decrease urban concentration It is also found that countries with a long independent urban history have lower degrees of urban concentration than countries with a recent colonial past Furthermore, I assess the impact of some historic variables and historic patterns of urban concentration on current patterns of concentration

ERS-SAR imagery for urban climate studies

Abstract: This study investigates the potentialities of ERS SAR imagery for the urban micro-climate and air quality, over the city of Nantes, France. The temporal variability of the SAR signal over the city has been assessed by analyzing five images in descending mode. Beside the speckle effect, the quality of the signal is highly variable from one image to the other. Meteorological effects. make contrasts between objects and their surroundings to be more or less pronounced. Urban features are mostly present in each image, but the structures are not always well perceived within a single image. It is concluded that it is necessary to have several images. Their redundancy allows a better exploitation of the urban features. Further it decreases the level of speckle. Screening of the average SAR image clearly indicates that the perception of the roads is highly dependent on the flight direction of the spacecraft. The main factors for the perception of the morphological features are the height of the buildings, its orientation relative to the spacecraft orbit, its horizontal surface, its materials. Multiresolution analysis, by means of wavelet transform or structure function, provides a good discrimination between unbuilt areas, residential areas, industrial areas, and large groups of buildings. This preliminary study has demonstrated that urban morphological features and their typologies with relation to the air flow drag were well-perceived in SAR imagery once properly processed. Further studies are required to assess definitely the benefits and the limits of such images in urban micro-climate and air quality.

Urban growth and the transformation of rural China: the case of Southern Manchuria

Abstract: Since the economic reforms launched at the end of the 1970s, China has experienced dramatic socioeconomic change which has led to the emergence of new and distinctive regions of economic interaction characterised by an extensive and intensive mix of agricultural and non-agricultural activities. This paper illustrates the nature and characteristics of these evolving Extended Metropolitan Regions (EMRs) by drawing on the experience of the Shenyang-Dalian urban corridor in Northeast China (Manchuria). The increased level of economic interaction between the cities and the countryside is characterised by accelerated labour and capital flows, rapidly expanding rural-urban commodity trade and subcontracting between urban and rural enterprises. The result is a rapid erosion of differences in the standard of living, economic function and life style between the city and the countryside.

Una propuesta de terminología castellana en Climatología Urbana

Abstract: The Urban Climatology is a young science in Spain, so it would be very important to establish a clear, comprehensible spanish terminology for the main concepts in urban climate. In this paper, eleven spanish terms are proposed and defined.

On the Agglomeration of Non-Residential Activities in an Urban Area

Abstract: This paper follows Hochman, Pines and Thisse (1995) in portraying metropolitan areas as a complex of spatial clubs. Adopting this perspective, the paper characterizes the role of urbanization economies in the agglomeration of non-residential activities inside metropolitan areas.

Controlling urban climate: Using a computational method to study and improve indoor environments

Abstract: (1997). Controlling urban climate: Using a computational method to study and improve indoor environments. Journal of Urban Technology: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 69-83.

Climates and societies : a climatological perspective : a contribution on global change and related problems

Abstract: 1: Introduction.- 1. Human Activities and Environmental Change: A Climatologist's View.- 2: Climate Change and Variability.- 1. On Relationships Between Climate Variability and Change, and Societies.- 2. Climate Change in Post Glacial Period in Monsoon Asia.- 3. Approaches to Climatic Variations During the Historical Era: A Few Examples.- 4. Some Statistical Aspects of Observed Regional and Global Climate Change Within the Instrumental Period.- 5. Climate of the Future: An Evaluation of the Current Uncertainties.- 6. Impacts of the Climate Variability on Human Activities.- 3: Regional Scale Climates.- 1. Society-Climate Systems in Tropical Africa.- 2. Climate and Life in the Caribbean Basin.- 3. Climate and Societies in Southeast Asia.- 4. Climatic and Pathological Rhythms in a Humid Tropical Area, the Case of the Philippines.- 5. Possible Impact on Agriculture Due to Climatic Change and Variability in South America.- 6. Climate and Agriculture in China.- 7. The Climates of the "Polar Regions".- 4: Local Scale Climates.- 1. Introduction to the Problems on Local Climate and Man.- 2. Interactions of Man and Climate in the Urban World - The Influence of Urbanization on the Local Climate and the Influence of Urban Climate on Man.- 3. Climates of Tropical and Subtropical Cities.- 4. Air Pollution: A Local Problem Becomes a Global Problem.- 5. Agricultural Landuse and Local Climate.

Low impact – high density residential development

Abstract: Recent developments in Toronto have seen the reemergence of mid rise high density housing projects. They provide new alternatives to typical postwar low rise/high rise extremes.

Interactions of Man and Climate in the Urban World — The Influence of Urbanization on the Local Climate and the Influence of Urban Climate on Man

Abstract: Urbanization changes the local climate. It is useful in this regard to differentiate the development of cities from the construction of single houses or settlements in undisturbed areas. In this chapter, criteria for towns are given and the most important changes to the local climate due to their presence are presented. The major impacts of urbanization on local climates are expressed in urban heat island, net radiation and energy balance, windfield and water balance which are discussed with examples drawn mainly from the mid latitudes.

Biometeorological studies on urban climate

Abstract: Urban-biometeorology. i.e., biometeorological study on the urban climate is regarded as both old and/or new science. Studies on two topics are reviewed: the thermal or chemical impact of urban climate on human health, and the relation between urban climate and vegetation.

Ecological cartographic research on the relationship between

Abstract: Ecological cartography was developed in order to visualize the spacial characteristics of urban climatic conditions. The maps were made using data obtained from a questionnaire. Using these data, we performed an analysis on the scale of street corners for Kumamoto City. This study was conducted in five districts that were 300m×300m in size. Questionnaires were sent to the residents in these districts in order to investigate the relationship between their perceptions about the local climatic conditions in their neighborhoods and their energy consumption for household heating and air conditioning. The results showed that these two factors had fairly good correlation.

Heat and Moisture Transfer in Tokyo under Fine Weather.

Abstract: We discussed the heat and moisture transfer in Tokyo area under fine weather conditions with emphasis on spatial and temporal variation in humidity. First, we processed hourly meteorological data at several stations in the central part of Tokyo in mid-winter and mid-summer. It was found that in winter see breezes may bring humid air into urbanized area to increase the absolute humidity while in summer the evolution of boundary layer is more influential over the humidity level than see breeze intrusion. Then we applied our urban climate model that considers the moisture release from cars and human bodies to Tokyo area under idealized summer weather condition. It was indicated that the moisture release accompanied by the above human activities contributes little to the humidity level and that the vapor supply from land use and advection such as see breezes are more important processes in the humidity distribution.