De Almeida, Catherine. (2019). Performative By-Products: The Emergence of Waste Reuse Strategies at the Blue Lagoon. Journal of Landscape Architecture, 13(3), 64-77.
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Abstract
Materials and landscapes associated with waste are perceived as objectionable. By reactivating and embracing waste conditions as desirable opportunities for diverse programmes rooted in economy, ecology, and culture, designers can form hybrid assemblages on waste sites through the exchange of waste materials—a landscape lifecycles approach. This frame-work is applicable to not only design research, but also as a critical lens for evaluating the landscape performance of existing projects that engage with waste reuse. The Blue Lagoon in southwest Iceland materialized as a spa industry out of geothermal waste effluent from the adjacent Svartsengi Geothermal Power Station, reusing undesirable materials and transforming a waste landscape through diversified material recovery strategies. Featuring an industrial by-product turned economic generator, this case study reveals the opportunities for reusing geothermal ‘waste’ in these emergent landscape conditions, which hybridize economies with recreation, research, and ecology, and shift the conventional relationship with waste from passive to performative.
Keywords
Waste reuse; Blue Lagoon; material lifecycles; Iceland; landscape reclamation
Yi, Ze-ji; Yang, Xiao-hua; Li, Yu-qi. (2022). A Water Quality Prediction Model for Large-scale Rivers Based on Projection Pursuit Regression in the Yangtze River. Thermal Science, 26(3), 2561-2567.
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Abstract
In recent decades, the Yangtze River Basin, which carries hundreds of millions of people and a substantial economic scale, has been plagued by water quality dete-rioration, threatening considerably sustainable development. In this paper, a sample set is established based on the water quality indexes of chemical oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen obtained by week-by-week monitoring on the main stream of the Yangtze River in Panzhihua, Yueyang, Jiujiang, and Nanjing from 2006 to 2018. The twelve characteristic variables are selected by random forest technique, and the week-by-week dynamic prediction models of chemical oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen at each section of main stream are established by the projection pursuit regression, which can effectively predict the water quality dynamics of the Yangtze River main stream.
Keywords
Pollution; Water Quality; Dynamic Prediction Model; Random Forest; Projection Pursuit Regression; Yangtze River
Lindell, Michael K.; Jung, Meen Chel; Prater, Carla S.; House, Donald H. (2022). Improving Cascadia Subduction Zone Residents’ Tsunami Preparedness: Quasi-experimental Evaluation of an Evacuation Brochure. Natural Hazards, 114(1), 849-881.
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Abstract
This study surveyed 227 residents in three US Pacific Coast communities that are vulnerable to a Cascadia subduction zone tsunami. In the Brochure condition, information was presented online, followed by questions about tsunamis. Respondents in the Comparison condition received the same questionnaire by mail but did not view the brochure. Respondents in the Brochure condition had higher levels of perceived information sufficiency than those in the Comparison condition about three of the five tsunami topics. Both conditions had generally realistic expectations about most tsunami warning sources. However, they had unrealistically high expectations of being warned of a local tsunami by social sources, such as route alerting, that could not be implemented before first wave arrival. They also had unrealistically high expectations being warned of a distant tsunami by ground shaking from the source earthquake, whose epicenter would be too far away for them to feel. Moreover, respondents in both conditions expected higher levels of personal property damage and family casualties than is the case for most hazards, but their levels of negative affective response were not especially high. Overall, only 10% of the sample accessed the tsunami brochure even when sent repeated contacts and the brochure demonstrated modest effects for those who did access it. These results suggest that state and local officials should engage in repeated personalized efforts to increase coastal communities' tsunami emergency preparedness because distribution of tsunami brochures has only a modest effect on preparedness.
Keywords
Subduction Zones; Tsunamis; Emergency Management; Tsunami Warning Systems; Brochures; Preparedness; Communities; Cascadia Subduction Zone Tsunami; Hazard Warnings; Quasi-experiment; Risk Communication; Risk Information-seeking; Natural Warning Signs; Earthquake; Awareness; Responses; Behavior; Model; Wellington; Hazard; Threat; Earthquakes; Casualties; Subduction; Vulnerability; Emergency Preparedness; Emergency Warning Programs; Levels; Seismic Activity; Property Damage; Shaking; Earthquake Damage; Subduction (geology); Disaster Management; Cascadia
Celina Balderas Guzmán, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture. Dr. Balderas’ research spans environmental planning, design, and science and focuses on climate adaptation to sea level rise on the coast and urban stormwater inland. On the coast, her work demonstrates specific ways that the climate adaptation actions of humans and adaptation of ecosystems are interdependent. Her work explores how these interdependencies can be maladaptive by shifting vulnerabilities to other humans or non-humans, or synergistic. Using ecological modeling, she has explored these interdependencies focusing on coastal wetlands as nature-based solutions. Her work informs cross-sectoral adaptation planning at a regional scale.
Inland, Dr. Balderas studies urban stormwater through a social-ecological lens. Using data science and case studies, her work investigates the relationship between stormwater pollution and the social, urban form, and land cover characteristics of watersheds. In past research, she developed new typologies of stormwater wetlands based on lab testing in collaboration with environmental engineers. The designs closely integrated hydraulic performance, ecological potential, and recreational opportunities into one form.
Her research has been funded by major institutions such as the National Science Foundation, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, UC Berkeley, and the MIT Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab. She has a PhD in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. Previously, she obtained masters degrees in urban planning and urban design, as well as an undergraduate degree in architecture all from MIT.
Dylan Stevenson’s (Prairie Band Potawatomi descent) research examines how culture informs planning strategies and influences land relationships. More specifically, he investigates how tribal epistemologies structure notions of Indigenous futurities by centering Indigenous cultural values at the forefront of environmental stewardship and cultural preservation. He is currently working on a project researching how governments (Federal, State, and Tribal) embed cultural values in Water Resources Planning strategies, drawing from ethnographic research he conducted in the joint territory of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians and Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. His other research interests include ecological restoration, intangible cultural heritage, and food systems planning. Previously, Dylan has worked for public and quasi-public entities dealing with the implementation and compliance of local, state, and federal legislation in California and has forthcoming work analyzing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in planning programs.
Dylan earned his Ph.D. in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University. He earned his master’s degree in Planning with a concentration in Preservation and Design of the Built Environment from the University of Southern California, a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics with a minor in Native American Studies from the University of California—Davis, and an associate of arts degree in Liberal Arts from De Anza College.
Dyson, Karen; Yocom, Ken. (2015). Ecological Design For Urban Waterfronts. Urban Ecosystems, 18(1), 189 – 208.
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Abstract
Urban waterfronts are rarely designed to support biodiversity and other ecosystem services, yet have the potential to provide these services. New approaches that integrate ecological research into the design of docks and seawalls provide opportunities to mitigate the environmental impacts of urbanization and recover ecosystem function in urban waterfronts. A review of current examples of ecological design in temperate cities informs suggestions for future action. Conventional infrastructures have significant and diverse impacts on aquatic ecosystems. The impacts of conventional infrastructure are reduced where ecological designs have been implemented, particularly by projects adding microhabitat, creating more shallow water habitat, and reconstructing missing or altered rocky benthic habitats. Opportunities for future research include expanding current research into additional ecosystems, examining ecological processes and emergent properties to better address ecosystem function in ecological design, and addressing the impact of and best practices for continuing maintenance. Planned ecological infrastructure to replace aging and obsolete structures will benefit from design feedback derived from carefully executed in situ pilot studies.
Keywords
Coastal Defense Structures; Fixed Artificial Habitats; Marine Habitats; Intertidal Seawalls; Benthic Communities; Reconciliation Ecology; Subtidal Epibiota; Rocky Shores; Reef; Biodiversity; Ecological Design; Seawalls; Habitat; Waterfront; Urban Infrastructure; Aquatic Ecology
Wang, Kaiwen; Liu, Xiaomang; Tian, Wei; Li, Yanzhong; Liang, Kang; Liu, Changming; Li, Yuqi; Yang, Xiaohua. (2019). Pan Coefficient Sensitivity to Environment Variables across China. Journal Of Hydrology, 572, 582 – 591.
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Abstract
Data of open water evaporation (E-ow), such as evaporation of lake and reservoir, have been widely used in hydraulic and hydrological engineering projects, and water resources planning and management in agriculture, forestry and ecology. Because of the low-cost and maneuverability, measuring the evaporation of a pan has been widely regarded as a reliable approach to estimate E-ow through multiplying an appropriate pan coefficient (K-p). K-p is affected by geometry and materials of a pan, and complex surrounding environment variables. However, the relationship between K-p and different environment variables is unknown. Thus, this study chose China D20 pan as an example, used meteorological observations from 767 stations and introduced the latest PenPan model to analyze the sensitivity of K-p to different environment variables. The results show that, the distribution of annual K-p had a strong spatial gradient. For all the stations, annual K-p ranged from 0.31 to 0.89, and decreased gradually from southeast to northwest. The sensitivity analysis shows that for China as a whole, K-p was most sensitive to relative humidity, followed by air temperature, wind speed and sunshine duration. For 767 stations in China, K-p was most sensitive to relative humidity for almost all the stations. For stations north of Yellow River, wind speed and sunshine duration were the next sensitive variables; while for stations south of Yellow River, air temperature was the next sensitive variable. The method introduced in this study could benefit estimating and predicting K-p under future changing environment.
Keywords
Atmospheric Temperature; Hydraulic Engineering; Meteorological Observations; Humidity; Water Supply; Evaporation (meteorology); Sunshine; Lake Management; China; Kp Most Sensitive To Relative Humidity; Open Water Evaporation; Pan Coefficient (kp); Pan Evaporation; Sensitivity Analysis; Reference Evapotranspiration; Reference Crop; Evaporation; Water; Model; Pan Coefficient (k-p); K-p Most Sensitive To Relative Humidity; Air Temperature; Ecology; Forestry; Geometry; Hydrologic Engineering; Lakes; Maneuverability; Meteorological Data; Models; Planning; Prediction; Relative Humidity; Solar Radiation; Wind Speed; Yellow River
Lindell, Michael K.; Mumpower, Jeryl L.; Huang, Shih-kai; Wu, Hao-che; Samuelson, Charles D. (2015). Exposure Path Perceptions and Protective Actions in Biological Water Contamination Emergencies. Environmental Health Insights, 9, 13 – 21.
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Abstract
This study extends the Protective Action Decision Model, developed to address disaster warning responses in the context of natural hazards, to boil water advisories. The study examined 110 Boston residents' and 203 Texas students' expectations of getting sick through different exposure paths for contact with contaminated water. In addition, the study assessed respondents' actual implementation (for residents) or behavioral expectations (for students) of three different protective actions - bottled water, boiled water, and personally chlorinated water - as well as their demographic characteristics and previous experience with water contamination. The results indicate that people distinguish among the exposure paths, but the differences are small (one-third to one-half of the response scale). Nonetheless, the perceived risk from the exposure paths helps to explain why people are expected to consume (or actually consumed) bottled water rather than boiled or personally chlorinated water. Overall, these results indicate that local authorities should take care to communicate the relative risks of different exposure paths and should expect that people will respond to a boil water order primarily by consuming bottled water. Thus, they should make special efforts to increase supplies of bottled water in their communities during water contamination emergencies.
Keywords
Water Contamination; Exposure Paths; Risk Perception; Protective Action
Abramson, Daniel B. (2020). Ancient and Current Resilience in the Chengdu Plain: Agropolitan Development Re-‘Revisited’. Urban Studies (sage Publications, Ltd.), 57(7), 1372 – 1397.
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Abstract
The Dujiangyan irrigation system, China's largest, is one of the world's most important examples of sustainable agropolitan development, maintained by a relatively decentralised system of governance that minimises bureaucratic oversight and depends on significant local autonomy at many scales down to the household. At its historic core in the Chengdu Plain, the system has supported over 2000 years of near-continuously stable urban culture, as well as some of the world's highest sustained long-term per-hectare productivity and diversity of grain and other crops, especially considering its high population density, forest cover, general biodiversity and flood management success. During the past decade, rapid urban expansion has turned the Chengdu Plain from a net grain exporter into a grain importer, and has radically transformed its productive functioning and distinctive scattered settlement pattern, reorganising much of the landscape into larger, corporately-managed farms, and more concentrated and infrastructure-intensive settlements of non-farming as well as farming households. Community-scale case studies of spatial-morphological and household socio-economic variants on the regional trend help to articulate what is at stake. Neither market-driven 'laissez-faire' rural development nor local state-driven spatial settlement consolidation and corporatisation of production seem to correlate well with important factors of resilience: landscape heterogeneity; crop diversity and food production; permaculture; and flexibility in household independence and choice of livelihood. Management of the irrigation system should be linked to community-based agricultural landscape preservation and productive dwelling, as sources of adaptive capacity crucial to the social-ecological resilience of the city-region, the nation and perhaps all humanity.
Keywords
Urbanization; Economies Of Agglomeration; Agricultural Ecology; Sustainability; Urban Planning; Land Use; China; Agglomeration/urbanisation; Agroecosystems; Environment/sustainability; History/heritage/memory; Redevelopment/regeneration; Cultivated Land; Countryside; Expansion; State; Rise; Modernization; Conservation; Integration; Earthquake; Agglomeration; Urbanisation; Environment; History; Heritage; Memory; Redevelopment; Regeneration; Population Density; Production; Farming; Agriculture; Decentralization; Autonomy; Food Production; Households; Landscape; Resilience; Rural Development; Food; Farms; Regional Development; Productivity; Economic Development; Case Studies; Agricultural Production; Biodiversity; Sustainable Development; Governance; Preservation; Crops; Flood Management; Irrigation; Permaculture; Radicalism; Socioeconomic Factors; Grain; Flexibility; Heterogeneity; Variants; Urban Areas; Irrigation Systems; Rural Communities; Bureaucracy; Landscape Preservation; Agricultural Land; Flood Control; Density; Infrastructure; Urban Sprawl; Livelihood; Farm Management; Rural Areas; Urban Farming; Settlement Patterns; Agribusiness; Market Economies
Wilson, A. Meriwether W.; Mugerauer, Robert; Klinger, Terrie. (2015). Rethinking Marine Infrastructure Policy and Practice: Insights from Three Large-Scale Marina Developments in Seattle. Marine Policy, 53, 67 – 82.
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Abstract
The global transformation of the marine nearshore is generating profound losses of ecological and geomorphological functions and ecosystem services, as natural environments are replaced with built. With conservation a diminishing option and restoration often unrealistic, there is a need to rethink development and the potential for marine infrastructure to contribute to net environmental gain. Through analysis of 150 years of change associated with the development of three large-scale marinas in the Seattle area, this research identifies the ways in which evolving policy frameworks and ecological understanding determine the nature, efficiency and environmental outcomes of coastal marine developments. Decisions on infrastructure design, mitigation strategies and policy interpretations directly determined the ecological fate of marine biota inhabiting these structures as well as surrounding ecosystems. In spite of increasing evidence of environmental legislation driving mitigation and innovative engineering, the net ecological trajectories remained negative. There were no tested demonstrations of marine mitigation to confirm which measures would succeed. Where scientific understanding existed, the uptake into planning and legislation was slow. More broadly, this research highlights a need and opportunity to consider marine infrastructure as living laboratories to inform a policy shift from a no-net-loss paradigm to net-environmental-gain. This evolution is timely, with sea level rise requiring new approaches to coastal defenses and with marine energy infrastructure increasingly being located offshore, where there is little knowledge of the ecological changes occurring in both time and space. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Coastal; Restoration; Landscape; Habitats; Science; Driver; Areas; Act; Marine Coastal Infrastructure; Ecological Mitigation; Novel Marine Habitats; Environmental Governance; Pacific Northwest