Wang, Z., Ito, K., & Biljecki, F. (2024). Assessing the equity and evolution of urban visual perceptual quality with time series street view imagery. Cities, 145, 104704-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104704
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Abstract
The well-being of residents is considerably influenced by the quality of their environment. However, due to the lack of large-scale quantitative and longitudinal evaluation methods, it has been challenging to assess residents' satisfaction and achieve social inclusion goals in neighborhoods. We develop a novel cost-effective method that utilizes time series street view imagery for evaluating and monitoring visual environmental quality in neighborhoods. Unlike most research that relies on site visits or surveys, this study trains a deep learning model with a large-scale dataset to analyze six perception indicators' scores in neighborhoods in different geographies and does so longitudinally thanks to imagery taken over a period of a decade, a novelty in the body of knowledge. Implementing the approach, we examine public housing neighborhoods in Singapore and New York City as case studies. The results demonstrated that temporal imagery can effectively assess spatial equity and monitor the visual environmental qualities of neighborhoods over time, providing a new, comprehensive, and scalable workflow. It can help governments improve policies and make informed decisions on enhancing the design and living standards of urban residential areas, including public housing communities, which may be affected by social stigmatization, and monitor the effectiveness of their policies and actions.
Keywords
Residential quality; Public housing; Environmental quality; Spatial equity; Street view imagery; Visual environment
Attila Gyucha, Abigail Derby Lewis, Rodrigo Solinis Casparius, Natalia C. Piland, & Marina Alberti. (2024). Editorial: Shaping the future: urban resilience and socio-ecological systems through time. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2024.1392723
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Pineo, H., Clifford, B., Eyre, M., & Aldridge, R. W. (2024). Health and wellbeing impacts of housing converted from non-residential buildings: A mixed-methods exploratory study in London, UK. Wellbeing, Space and Society, 6, 100192-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2024.100192
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Abstract
Housing quality is a determinant of health, wellbeing and inequities. Since 2013, changes to Permitted Development Rights (PDR) allow conversions of non-residential buildings into housing without planning permission in England. We explored the potential health and wellbeing impacts of such ‘PDR housing’ through an online survey and semi-structured interviews in four London boroughs. We found an association between low wellbeing and lack of residential space and accommodation cooling options, fewer local amenities and lower perceived safety. Participants highlighted problems with windows and outdoor space. Poor quality PDR conversions may pose health and wellbeing risks that could be avoided through regulation and enforcement.
Keywords
Housing; Wellbeing; Health; Non-residential conversions; England; Socio-ecological; Adaptive reuse; Urban planning
The CBE Inspire Fund Awardees for the 2024 cycle have been selected! Their project names and team members are outlined below. Title: Mycelium Grow Lab for Student-led Research Team: Gundula Proksch (Associate Professor, Architecture), Tyler Sprague (Associate Professor, Architecture) Title: Exhibition of the works of OUR: Office of (Un)certainty Research Team: Vikram Prakash (Professor, Architecture) Title: Emergence, Resilience, and Future(s) of Urban Informality in Seattle Team: Julie Johnson (Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture), Manish Chalana (Associate Professor, Urban Design and Planning)…
On Thursday, March 21st, the Change Stories team gathered for the final day of shared learning sessions. The first session was focused on developing a theory of change for the project. Small group discussions returned to topics from previous days, including how to effectively apply the decolonial research approach that is at the core of this work together. Deconstructing the initially drafted theory of change, the group identified the importance of co-creating guiding materials for the project. We enjoyed our…
Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen, Mark E. Kincey, Nick J. Rosser, Karen C. Seto, Identifying recurrent and persistent landslides using satellite imagery and deep learning: A 30-year analysis of the Himalaya, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 922, 2024, 171161, ISSN 0048-9697, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171161.
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Abstract
This paper presents a remote sensing-based method to efficiently generate multi-temporal landslide inventories and identify recurrent and persistent landslides. We used free data from Landsat, nighttime lights, digital elevation models, and a convolutional neural network model to develop the first multi-decadal inventory of landslides across the Himalaya, spanning from 1992 to 2021. The model successfully delineated >265,000 landslides, accurately identifying 83 % of manually mapped landslide areas and 94 % of reported landslide events in the region. Surprisingly, only 14 % of landslide areas each year were first occurrences, 55–83 % of landslide areas were persistent and 3–24 % had reactivated. On average, a landslide-affected pixel persisted for 4.7 years before recovery, a duration shorter than findings from small-scale studies following a major earthquake event. Among the recovered areas, 50 % of them experienced recurrent landslides after an average of five years. In fact, 22 % of landslide areas in the Himalaya experienced at least three episodes of landslides within 30 years. Disparities in landslide persistence across the Himalaya were pronounced, with an average recovery time of 6 years for Western India and Nepal, compared to 3 years for Bhutan and Eastern India. Slope and elevation emerged as significant controls of persistent and recurrent landslides. Road construction, afforestation policies, and seismic and monsoon activities were related to changes in landslide patterns in the Himalaya.
Keywords
Landslide inventory; Landslide evolution; Vegetation recovery; Multi-temporalSpatiotemporal analysis; Machine learning
On Wednesday, March 20th, the Change Stories team began the day with a site visit to the Manzana del Cuidado de Cuidad Bolivar (Block of Care in Bolivar). The bus dropped off the group at the TransMiCable cable car, which connects the people on a steep hillside to transportation and other resources. The TransMiCable costs $2300 pesos per trip – around US$0.70, and includes 163 cabins with room for 10 passengers each. Before the TransMiCable connected these communities, the walk…
Tuesday, March 19th, the Change Stories residential knowledge exchange group experienced a full day of shared learning sessions. Morning sessions included full discussions from the US community based organization team members, followed by a discussion about decolonializing research. The discussions were full and many perspectives, methods, and expertises’ were shared from different teams and institutions. Tuesday included a beautiful walk to lunch at a restaurant on the Universidad de los Andes campus; the variety of building design on campus was…
Monday, March 18th at 8am, individuals gathered in the hotel lobby; many people were meeting for the first time, some were long-term colleagues or past co-workers. Some participates were able to explore the city for a day or two before official activities began. Travel experiences were shared, first experiences in Bogotá were highlighted; on Sunday, a group participated in the Bogotá weekly Ciclovía, and experienced a free public Zumba exercise class in a local park. Boarding the bus, many…
The Change Stories project is an research project with collaboration from academics and their community-based partners in Belfast (Queen’s University), Northern Ireland, Belo Horizonte (Federal University of Minas Gerais Brazil and Observatory for Urban Health), Brazil, and Bogotá (Universidad de los Andes), Colombia. Additional collaborators include USA and Internationally-based advisory group members, who work within their communities. The project is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The 3 case study cities in the Change Stories project are Belfast, Northern…