Abstract: Evidence is mounting to suggest a causal relationship between the built environment and people’s physical activity behaviours, particularly active transport. The evidence base has been hindered to date by restricted consideration of cost and economic factors associated with built environment interventions, investigation of socioeconomic or ethnic differences in intervention effects, and an inability to isolate the effect of the built environment from other intervention types. The aims of this systematic review were to identify which environmental interventions increase physical activity in residents at the local level, and to build on the evidence base by considering intervention cost, and the differential effects of interventions by ethnicity and socioeconomic status. A systematic database search was conducted in June 2015. Articles were eligible if they reported a quantitative empirical study (natural experiment or a prospective, retrospective, experimental, or longitudinal research) investigating the relationship between objectively measured built environment feature(s) and physical activity and/or travel behaviours in children or adults. Quality assessment was conducted and data on intervention cost and whether the effect of the built environment differed by ethnicity or socioeconomic status were extracted. Twenty-eight studies were included in the review. Findings showed a positive effect of walkability components, provision of quality parks and playgrounds, and installation of or improvements in active transport infrastructure on active transport, physical activity, and visits or use of settings. There was some indication that infrastructure improvements may predominantly benefit socioeconomically advantaged groups. Studies were commonly limited by selection bias and insufficient controlling for confounders. Heterogeneity in study design and reporting limited comparability across studies or any clear conclusions to be made regarding intervention cost. Improving neighbourhood walkability, quality of parks and playgrounds, and providing adequate active transport infrastructure is likely to generate positive impacts on activity in children and adults. The possibility that the benefits of infrastructure improvements may be inequitably distributed requires further investigation. Opportunities to improve the quality of evidence exist, including strategies to improve response rates and representativeness, use of valid and reliable measurement tools, cost-benefit analyses, and adequate controlling for confounders.

Abstract: Although the scale of impending urbanization is well-acknowledged, we have a limited understanding of how urban forms will change and what their impact will be on building energy use. Using both top-down and bottom-up approaches and scenarios, we examine building energy use for heating and cooling. Globally, the energy use for heating and cooling by the middle of the century will be between 45 and 59 exajoules per year (corresponding to an increase of 7–40% since 2010). Most of this variability is due to the uncertainty in future urban densities of rapidly growing cities in Asia and particularly China. Dense urban development leads to less urban energy use overall. Waiting to retrofit the existing built environment until markets are ready in about 5 years to widely deploy the most advanced renovation technologies leads to more savings in building energy use. Potential for savings in energy use is greatest in China when coupled with efficiency gains. Advanced efficiency makes the least difference compared with the business-as-usual scenario in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa but significantly contributes to energy savings in North America and Europe. Systemic efforts that focus on both urban form, of which urban density is an indicator, and energy-efficient technologies, but that also account for potential co-benefits and trade-offs with human well-being can contribute to both local and global sustainability. Particularly in growing cities in the developing world, such efforts can improve the well-being of billions of urban residents and contribute to mitigating climate change by reducing energy use in urban areas.

Abstract: Energy poverty - which has also been recognised via terms such as 'fuel poverty' and 'energy vulnerability' - occurs when a household experiences inadequate levels of energy services in the home. Measuring energy poverty is challenging, as it is a culturally sensitive and private condition, which is temporally and spatially dynamic. This is compounded by the limited availability of appropriate data and indicators, and lack of consensus on how energy poverty should be conceptualised and measured. Statistical indicators of energy poverty are an important and necessary part of the research and policy landscape. They carry great political weight, and are often used to guide the targeting of energy poverty measures - due to their perceived objectivity - with important consequences for both the indoor and built environment of housing. Focussing on the European Union specifically, this paper critically assesses the available statistical options for monitoring energy poverty, whilst also presenting options for improving existing data. This is examined through the lens of vulnerability thinking, by considering the ways in which policies and institutions, the built fabric and everyday practices shape energy use, alongside the manner in which energy poor households experience and address the issue on a day-to-day basis.

Abstract: BACKGROUND More than half of the global population currently lives in cities, with an increasing trend for further urbanization. Living in cities is associated with increased population density, traffic noise and pollution, but also with better access to health care and other commodities. METHODS This review is based on a selective literature search, providing an overview of the risk factors for mental illness in urban centers. RESULTS Studies have shown that the risk for serious mental illness is generally higher in cities compared to rural areas. Epidemiological studies have associated growing up and living in cities with a considerably higher risk for schizophrenia. However, correlation is not causation and living in poverty can both contribute to and result from impairments associated with poor mental health. Social isolation and discrimination as well as poverty in the neighborhood contribute to the mental health burden while little is known about specific interactions between such factors and the built environment. CONCLUSION Further insights on the interaction between spatial heterogeneity of neighborhood resources and socio-ecological factors is warranted and requires interdisciplinary research.

Abstract: Though there is a growing literature on the connection between the built environment and travel behavior, limited efforts have been made to consider the intermediary nature of car ownership and travel distance simultaneously while modeling the relationship between the built environment and travel mode choice behavior. The mediating effects from car ownership and travel distance, as an important piece, are not sufficiently investigated. To fill this gap, in this study the relationships among travel mode choice, car ownership and travel distance were described using a framework of integrated structural equation model (SEM) and discrete choice model (DCM). Drawing on a rich dataset of National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) and numerous built environment measurements in Baltimore metropolitan area, this research applied the integrated SEM and DCM approach to investigate how the built environment affects travel mode choice through influencing car ownership and travel distance. Therefore, the direct and indirect effects of built environment on travel mode choice were revealed. This study hopes to give transportation planners a better understanding on how the built environment influences travel mode choice, and consequently develop effective and targeted countermeasures to reduce car use.

Abstract: In the built environment, a green building rating system provides the project team a framework and a tool to help achieving a better sustainable development. The research presents how Green Building Rating Systems (GBRSs) are environmental-oriented tools and should not be confused with Sustainability Assessment Systems; the latter is defined by the sustainability three pillars; environmental, social and economic. Achieving a green building certification does not necessarily mean that the building succeeded in achieving its environmental targets. The financial-driven and prescriptive implementation of GBRS are reasons behind a masked sustainability outcome. This paper presents an objective analysis between two internationally applied GBRSs; LEED and BREEAM, and two particularly developed for the gulf region; Estidama and GSAS. Those four systems are analyzed with respects to them addressing and prioritizing the sustainability pillars. The study also quantitatively discusses the credit weighting given by these systems, focusing on energy and water criteria. Limitations of GBRSs’ application and possible areas of improvement have been highlighted, such as climate change adaptability and the importance of sustainable communities and cities trend. The aim is to help designers and construction stakeholders in defining the development sustainability targets and objectives, without compromising on the local context and regional agenda.

Abstract: Background: The provision of green spaces is an important health promotion strategy to encourage physical activity and to improve population health. Green space provision has to be based on the principle of equity. This study investigated the presence of socioeconomic inequalities in geographic accessibility and quality of green spaces across Porto neighbourhoods (Portugal). Methods: Accessibility was evaluated using a Geographic Information System and all the green spaces were audited using the Public Open Space Tool. Kendall’s tau-b correlation coefficients and ordinal regression were used to test whether socioeconomic differences in green space quality and accessibility were statistically significant. Results: Although the majority of the neighbourhoods had an accessible green space, mean distance to green space increased with neighbourhood deprivation. Additionally, green spaces in the more deprived neighbourhoods presented significantly more safety concerns, signs of damage, lack of equipment to engage in active leisure activities, and had significantly less amenities such as seating, toilets, cafes, etc. Conclusions: Residents from low socioeconomic positions seem to suffer from a double jeopardy; they lack both individual and community resources. Our results have important planning implications and might contribute to understanding why deprived communities have lower physical activity levels and poorer health.

Abstract: In recent years, obesity-related diseases have been on the rise globally resulting in major challenges for health systems and society as a whole. Emerging research in population health suggests that interventions targeting the built environment may help reduce the burden of obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, translation of the evidence on the built environment into effective policy and planning changes requires engagement and collaboration between multiple sectors and government agencies for designing neighborhoods that are more conducive to healthy and active living. In this study, we identified knowledge gaps and other barriers to evidence-based decision-making and policy development related to the built environment; as well as the infrastructure, processes, and mechanisms needed to drive policy changes in this area. We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of data collected through consultations with a broad group of stakeholders (N = 42) from Southern Ontario, Canada, within various sectors (public health, urban planning, and transportation) and levels of government (federal, provincial, and municipalities). Relevant themes were classified based on the specific phase of the knowledge-to-action cycle (research, translation, and implementation) in which they were most closely aligned. We identified 5 themes including: 1) the need for policy-informed and actionable research (e.g. health economic analyses and policy evaluations); 2) impactful messaging that targets all relevant sectors to create the political will necessary to drive policy change; 3) common measures and tools to increase capacity for monitoring and surveillance of built environment changes; (4) intersectoral collaboration and alignment within and between levels of government to enable collective actions and provide mechanisms for sharing of resources and expertise, (5) aligning public and private sector priorities to generate public demand and support for community action; and, (6) solution-focused implementation of research that will be tailored to meet the needs of policymakers and planners. Additional research priorities and key policy and planning actions were also noted. Our research highlights the necessity of involving stakeholders in identifying inter-sectoral solutions to develop and translate actionable research on the built environment into effective policy and planning initiatives.

Abstract: The impacts of the built environment characteristics in residential neighborhoods on commuting behavior are explored in the literature. Scant evidence, however, is provided to scrutinize the role of the built environment characteristics at job locations. Studies also overlooked the potential error correlations between commuting mode and commuting distance due to the unobserved factors that influence both variables. We examined the impacts of the built environment characteristics at both residential and job locations on commuting mode and distance, by applying a discrete-continuous copula-based model on 857 workers in Shanghai. In contrast with studies of Western countries, we showed residential built environment characteristics are more influential on commute behavior than the built environment characteristics at job locations. This suggests the importance of local specificity in policymaking process. We also found the proportion of four-way intersections, road density, and population density in residential areas are negatively associated with driving probability, with elasticity amounts of −1.00, −0.23, and −0.08, respectively. Hence, dense and pedestrian- and cyclist-oriented development help to reduce travel distance and encourage walking, biking, and transit modes of travel.

Abstract: In cities like Los Angeles, on the hard edge of postmodernity, architecture and the police apparatus are being merged to an unprecedented degree. The militarization of city life is increasingly visible everywhere in the built environment of the 1990s. The universal consequence of the crusade to secure the city is the destruction of any truly democratic urban space. The security-driven logic of contemporary urban design finds its major "grassroots" expression in the frenetic efforts of Los Angeles's affluent neighborhoods to physically insulate their real-estate values and life-styles. Luxury developments outside the city limits have often been able to incorporate as "fortress cities", complete with security walls, guarded entries, private police, and even private roadways. The essence of security was a site plan clearly derived from Jeremy Bentham's proposed Panopticon—the eighteenth-century model prison to be constructed radially so that a single guard in a central tower could observe every prisoner at all times.

Abstract: Nowadays, debates addressing climate change, fossil fuels depletion and energy security highlight the need for a more sustainable built environment in order to reduce energy consumption and emission trends in the buildings sector. Meeting these targets is a challenge that calls for innovative research to improve the use of renewable energy sources, new technologies, and holistic tools and methodologies. Such research should integrate the dynamics and main drivers of energy supply and demand in buildings to support new policies, plans and actions towards lowering the built environment burdens. This paper brings together ten research topics concerning the energy and environmental performance of buildings, which can support a shift towards a more sustainable built environment. Background information and state of the art literature on the covered research topics is briefly summarized, gaps are identified and guidelines for future research are provided. The selected topics cover different stages along the lifetime of buildings (from design and operation, to retrofitting and end-of-life), different scale approaches (from building elements/components, to the building, district and urban scales), and different methods to assess the energy and environmental performance of buildings (life-cycle assessment, generative design methods and retrofitting tools). Other topics are discussed such as: nearly zero-energy buildings, the control of domestic energy resources in smart grid scenarios, the need to include end-users' behaviors in the dynamics of energy demand, the advantages of improving thermal storage by using phase change materials, the importance of reducing heating and cooling energy demand (maintaining indoor thermal comfort), and the optimization of heating and cooling fluids, and their system control.

Abstract: Summary Amid continued growth in the building stock, the pursuit of sustainable buildings is dominated by a focus on carbon neutrality and green, often overlooking resource consumption and its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and planetary degradation. Accordingly, this article seeks to highlight the importance of a resource-efficient built environment, which enables required functions to be delivered with less assets, and to put forward an approach toward this objective. In this regard, the circular economy (CE) concept seeks to extract more value from resources by using them for as long as possible, thereby increasing economic prosperity and employment while reducing waste, greenhouse emissions, and pollution. Thus far, application of CE principles has largely concentrated on the industrial sector, such as through industrial symbiosis and its extension to urban symbiosis/metabolism. Their application to cities and, in particular, the built environment has been limited and the body of literature is relatively undeveloped. Insight is offered into how this field of research might be developed and applied to enable a more resource-efficient, low-carbon built environment with socioeconomic benefits. It reviews literature on the CE and industrial ecology, their application to industrial and urban contexts, and the gaps pertaining to the building sector. A proposition for extending research and its application to the built environment is then put forward, encapsulated in a conceptual model. This is seen as an important first step in influencing policy makers and repositioning resource efficiency firmly on the sustainable and carbon neutral building agenda.

Abstract: Rating systems for assessing the environmental impact of buildings are technical instruments that aim to evaluate the environmental impact of buildings and construction projects. In some cases, these rating systems can also cover urban-scale projects, community projects, and infrastructures. These schemes are designed to assist project management in making the projects more sustainable by providing frameworks with precise criteria for assessing the various aspects of a building’s environmental impact. Given the growing interest in sustainable development worldwide, many rating systems for assessing the environmental impact of buildings have been established in recent years, each one with its peculiarities and fields of applicability. The present work is motivated by an interest in emphasizing such differences to better understand these rating systems and extract the main implications to building design. It also attempts to summarize in a user-friendly form the vast and fragmented assortment of information that is available today. The analysis focuses on the six main rating systems: the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM), the Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE), the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB), the Haute Qualite Environnementale (HQETM), the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and the Sustainable Building Tool (SBTool).

Abstract: Interests in studying of the built environment impacts on travel behavior have proliferated from North America to other parts of the world including China. Until very recently, there has been very little research into travel behavior in China. However, during the last decade, there has been a fast growing interest in studying the built environment and travel behavior in Chinese cities, perhaps motivated by China’s unprecedented urbanization and rapid urban transport development. Case studies from China provide new insights into the impacts of built environment on travel behavior that can help to enrich existing scholarship. However, currently there is a generally poor understanding of the role played by Chinese research and how it has enriched the international literature. This paper aims to fill this gap by reviewing studies in and outside China by both Chinese and non-Chinese scholars. The focus is on the contribution of these studies to the international literature. We identify four areas of contribution: how the built environment has been developed and its implications for travel behavior; the importance of housing sources in defining residential built environment and explaining travel behavior; the unique Danwei (or work unit) perspective on jobs-housing relationships and commuting behavior; and the importance of neighborhood types in explaining travel behavior in Chinese cities. The findings from this review should be relevant for researchers interested in developing future studies that will further advance geographic knowledge of the built environment and travel behavior, specifically in China and with broader global contexts.

Abstract: Problem, research strategy, and findings: Supportive built environments for walking are linked to higher rates of walking and physical activity, but little is known about this relationship for soci...

Abstract: High concentrations of people and economic activities in urban areas have strengthened the links between cities, health and the environment. Cities are not only responsible for environmental and health problems but also they hold the key for a greener economy and a sustainable future. Urban built environment is a policy field where appropriate policies and actions could yield significant human and ecological benefits. Among different elements of urban built environment, buildings deserve particular attention due to their large contribution to environmental and health problems. The concept of sustainable (green) building is a recent response to address the problems that stem from the building sector. However, the widespread implementation of the concept is hindered by significant challenges. This paper argues that manifestation of multiple benefits that sustainable buildings deliver could help overcome some of these challenges. The paper presents the extent to which green buildings could generate co-benefits, and underlines the opportunities and barriers to push green building agenda forward. The results indicate that green and sustainably renovated buildings could yield significant benefits in terms of energy and CO 2 reduction, cost savings, and improved health situation for building users. The case study buildings with the best two performances are found to achieve 33% and 26% reduction in energy use intensity, and 38% and 32% reduction in CO 2 emissions intensity in comparison to benchmark values. Reduction in energy consumption in the top two buildings corresponds to an energy cost saving of $ 1–1.5 Million per year per building. Furthermore, the top two buildings are found to provide improved healthy environment due to improved indoor and ambient air quality, better thermal comfort and more natural lighting indoors. Making more explicit the multiple benefits of sustainable buildings needs further consideration in this regard. We recommend that the public sector could take key actions to accelerate the number of green buildings including fiscal support, technical assistance and policy reforms.

Abstract: For decades, the relationship between travel and the built environment has been one of the most studied in urban planning. Built environments that are high on the D-variables—development density, l...

Abstract: Urban form can impact air pollution and public health. We reviewed health-related articles that assessed (1) the relationships among urban form, air pollution, and health as well as (2) aspects of the urban environment (i.e., green space, noise, physical activity) that may modify those relationships. Simulation and empirical studies demonstrate an association between compact growth, improved regional air quality, and health. Most studies are cross-sectional and focus on connections between transportation emissions and land use. The physical and mental health impacts of green space, public spaces that promote physical activity, and noise are well-studied aspects of the urban environment and there is evidence that these factors may modify the relationship between air pollution and health. Urban form can support efforts to design clean, health-promoting cities. More work is needed to operationalize specific strategies and to elucidate the causal pathways connecting various aspects of health.

Abstract: The urban built environment is underpinned by an increasingly complex digital infrastructure, which is posing a variety of unpredictable and unprecedented challenges for urban governance. The paper discusses how the new “hard” digital infrastructures such as broadband are accompanied by the need to understand the governance of public sector information; and in turn how this relates to the emergence of smart city strategies. The paper is illustrated using empirical examples drawn from Australian digital infrastructure development, with reference to the international landscape of “smart city” developments. It argues that there is a significant mismatch between the often small scale, bounded capabilities of municipal government, and the operational expertise and scope of technology firms.

Abstract: Environmental disasters, ranging from catastrophic floods to extreme temperatures, have caused more than 30,000 deaths per year and more than US$ 250–300 billion a year in economic losses, globally, between 1995 and 2015 (1). Improved infrastructure and planning for extreme events is essential in urban areas, where an increasingly greater fraction of the world’s inhabitants reside. In response, international governmental and private initiatives have placed the goal of resilience at the center stage of urban planning. [For example, The 100 Resilient Cities Initiative (www.100resilientcities.org/); the Global Covenant of Mayors (https://www.compactofmayors.org/globalcovenantofmayors/); and the recent UN Habitat III (https://habitat3.org/the-new-urban-agenda)]. In addition, scientific and policy communities alike now recognize the need for “safe-to-fail” infrastructural design, and the potential role of green and blue infrastructure in mediating hydrological and climatic risks in cities (2). Fig. 1. Improving urban resilience could help cities better cope with natural disasters, such as neighborhood flood events in Mexico City pictured here. Data source: Unidad Tormenta, Sistema de Aguas de la Ciudad de Mexico. Nevertheless, the social and political norms, values, rules, and relationships that undergird and structure the myriad decisions made by public and private actors—what we call “socio-political infrastructure”—are likely to be as influential in urban vulnerability dynamics as “hard” infrastructure and environmental management. Urban planning for enhanced resilience and sustainability is ultimately a complex social and political process. Socio-political infrastructure creates patterns of behavior and action that shape the built environment. Developing more sustainable pathways of urban development hinges on making this socio-political infrastructure transparent and legible in the tools and approaches available for risk management. We argue that sustainability science is in the position to create the tools, methods, and strategies to identify, represent, and communicate the significance of these social and political processes to decision makers at all levels. In doing so, we can help … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: Hallie.Eakin{at}asu.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Abstract: Nature has provided humankind with food, fuel, and shelter throughout evolutionary history. However, in contemporary cities, many natural landscapes have become degraded and replaced with impermeable hard surfaces (e.g., roads, paving, car parks and buildings). The reversal of this trend is dynamic, complex and still in its infancy. There are many facets of urban greening initiatives involving multiple benefits, sensitivities and limitations. The aim of this paper is to develop a characterisation method of nature based solutions for designing and retrofitting in the built environment, and to facilitate knowledge transfer between disciplines and for design optimisation. Based on a review of the literature across disciplines, key characteristics could be organised into four groups: policy and community initiatives, multiple benefits assessment, topology, and design options. Challenges and opportunities for developing a characterisation framework to improve the use of nature based solutions in the built environment are discussed.

Abstract: Along with the aging trend of the world population, the status and determinants of the travel behavior of the elderly have been gaining more attention in planning and research. Most of the existing research has focused on the influence of socio-demographics and built environments, while the impact of socio-cultural backgrounds has attracted less attention. Regarding the influence of built environments, previous studies have mainly focused on general elements such as density, and land use mixture, while specifics about how built environments influence the elderly have largely been ignored. This paper, therefore, attempts to investigate how socio-cultural settings, interacting with built environments, affect the travel behavior of the elderly in urban China. Particularly, we will examine the impacts of a set of built environment attributes on daily activity participation and the travel distance of the elderly in Nanjing. Based on quantitative and qualitative data, we found that special social and cultural contexts make the travel pattern of Chinese elderly and the determinants of that pattern different from those of their western counterparts. Specifically, it was found that public transportation accessibility instead of auto transportation accessibility, vegetable markets instead of supermarkets and convenience stores, open spaces and parks along with chess and card rooms instead of gyms and sports centers are more decisive in affecting the travel behavior of the elderly. These findings offer insights for policy making on distributing appropriate public facilities for the elderly in urban areas, especially in new towns in urban China.