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Topic Review
The Role of Urban Green Infrastructure
The urban green infrastructure (UGI) is “an interconnected network of urban green spaces, including multiple types of natural or man-made systems, ranging from large-scale water or terrestrial ecosystems to small-scale pocket parks or green components, such as green walls in cities”. It provides ecosystems services that are highly important for human well-being in cities.
  • 705
  • 28 Feb 2022
Topic Review
The Pandemic City
Pandemics have shaped the way cities are planned and configured. Throughout history, cities have evolved to solve problems of sanitation, hygiene, and health access while providing space and opportunities for the urban dwellers.
  • 693
  • 30 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Analysis of SUMPs in Spain
Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) are increasingly popular planning tools in cities with environmental issues where numerous actions are usually proposed to reduce pollution from urban transport. 
  • 669
  • 04 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Value Capture for Public Amenities
Land for public use is a vital need in any city, which is why government guidelines and legislation are applied to procure them through various policies such as land expropriation, consolidation and re-division. As land in city centers becomes increasingly scarce, and growth pushes cities to their limits, allocating land for public use becomes more challenging and requires new solutions. Examples include progressive taxation, redefining property rights, incentivizing owners, and introducing value capture instruments. Value capture enables cities to utilize unearned increments, meaning the increase in property value as a result of government intervention to which a property owner has not contributed. Statutory planning can create value uplift that can be harnessed through value capture tools to supply a range of public benefits to the community, including land for public utilities. Value capture instruments such as  density bonuses or land readjustment, can help decision-makers create public amenities including soft and hard infrastructure. 
  • 666
  • 01 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Participatory Budget of Lisbon
Participatory budgets (PBs) allocate a share of the local public budget to citizen-led initiatives. While aiming to get the most marginalised groups of civil society closer to democratic institutions and representatives, the first PBs were celebrated by movements and parties on the left of the political spectrum for their capacity to foster social justice, transparency, and accountability. In the last few decades, PBs have been endorsed by international agencies and contributed significantly to the development of good governance mechanisms. 
  • 651
  • 30 Jul 2021
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Residential Segregation
Residential segregation refers to the disproportionate distribution of population groups across a geographical area. Groups can be segregated on the basis of any characteristic (such as occupation, income, religion, age or ethnicity) and at any geographical scale. In most cases, segregation is, however, measured with regard to residential areas of a city. The extent of the unequal distribution of selected characteristics can be expressed by different statistical measures. Sociologists, economists and demographers have long studied how social groups tend to be differentiated in residential space and developed a broad range of explanations. As a consequence, segregation has been explained by a variety of theories, which are discussed in this paper. The topics examined by empirical research include temporal dynamics, geographical patterns, societal causes and effects on life chances. This entry focuses on major conceptual facts regarding residential segregation and only marginally discusses the methodological issues connected with its measurement.
  • 638
  • 02 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Thin Asphalt Layers as a Traffic Noise Intervention
Low-noise thin asphalt layers (TALs) are a feasible solution to mitigate road traffic noise in urban environments. Nevertheless, the impacts of this type of noise intervention are reported mostly regarding noise levels, while non-acoustic aspects influencing the population perception are still little-known. This study investigates the implementation of TALs in two streets of Antwerp, Belgium. The effectiveness of the intervention was measured via noise modelling and acoustic measurements of road traffic noise. A reduction of 2.8 dB in noise exposure was observed in Lden and Lnight, while SPB measurements showed decreases up to 5.2 dB on the roadside. The subjective impacts of the TALs were evaluated via self-administered surveys and compared to results from control streets. The annoyance indicators were positively impacted by the TALs implementation, resulting in annoyance levels similar or lower than in the control streets. The TALs did not impact the reported physical complaints, sleep quality, and comfort level to perform activities. 
  • 628
  • 23 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Urban Compactivity Models
Urban Compactivity encompasses a whole range of new trends, concepts, and development models that seek to scale up sustainable and even post-sustainable transition solutions (see the e.g., of the regenerative paradigm). Therefore, this evolution and proliferation of terms associated with the conceptual universe of urban connectivity can perhaps translate a progressive permeability of mainstream urban planning to the incorporation of transitional solutions that emerge more or less spontaneously from society. For exploring the dimensions of this domain, and its relevance for future organizations of city spaces, the following models remain on the forefront of the literature, aiming at practically answering to global environmental issues through a sustainable transformation of cities: The compact city is a model that dates back to the 1980s, with its main objective to actively and efficiently work towards global sustainability in order to drastically decrease climatic changes caused by the irresponsible human interaction with our planet.
  • 627
  • 02 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Tree and Heat Island Effect
Pavements occupy about 40% of urban land cover, with 75–80% black top roads, playing a critical role in urban connectivity and mobility. Solar energy is absorbed and stored in pavements leading to an increase in surface temperatures. Decreasing green cover is further contributing to rise in regional temperatures. Due to this activity, the city experiences urban heat island (UHI). This entry presents a critical review of the literature on mitigation measures to combat UHI using reflective pavements with an emphasis on durability properties and impacts of tree canopy.
  • 617
  • 16 Jan 2022
Topic Review
The New Urban Profession: Entering Age of Uncertainty
The context of urbanism is changing rapidly. The context for working in the field of urban design and planning is influenced by the pace of change; uncertainty; and massive transitions. The urban professional, however, is still used to planning for small changes and repeating traditional approaches. 
  • 606
  • 11 Feb 2022
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