Open spaces—whether public, urban, or part of a campus—offer a variety of activities and opportunities to people. Therefore, open spaces should be considered a vital component of any built-up area and designed to meet the needs and address the comfort of potential users. Because of their presence in daily life and their preponderance of characteristics, open spaces have drawn the attention of many researchers, designers, and planners with varying perspectives. The current study takes a scientific approach to analyzing the environmental parameters of the Campus Outdoor Space (COS) in the case of the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU). An extensive literature review supported the identification of seven important environmental parameters effective in the microscale analysis of a COS: geographical location, meteorological situation, urban form, surface materials, amount of vegetation and watershed, and anthropogenic pollution. Analysis of the environmental parameters called for a hybrid method that included a detailed field survey and the following set of simulations: sun-path, radiation, sky view factor, and turbulence analysis. The accuracy of the field survey directly contributed to the effectiveness of the simulations. Grasshopper® 3D software and Computational Fluid Dynamics were used to simulate the conditions of the EMU study area. The outcomes show that the spatial organization, building forms, and building orientation negatively affect the COS of EMU. In the Mediterranean climatic region of EMU, shade and flowing breezes greatly enhance comfort and usability of outdoor spaces from April to October. The massive form of buildings and minimal planning for effective building orientation to the sun increased heat storage capacity and neglected prevailing winds, resulting in flow separation and formation of eddies on the leeward side of buildings. These negatively influenced the microclimate, and thereby user comfort, at the core of the EMU’s main COS.
Examining land surface temperature and relations with the major air pollutants: A remote sensing research in case of Tehran
Background
Urban air pollution is a dynamic mixture of Land Surface Temperature (LST), gases, particulate matter with daily and seasonal changes due to anthropogenic activities, Land-use Land-cover (LULC) transformations, and climatic conditions. The relationship between urban biophysical and thermal conditions, and LULC is generally known; however, the absence of a dense network of land-based meteorological stations is an obstacle to the comparison of LST to Major Air Pollutants (MAP).
Method
This research proposes investigation of the relationships between LST derived by Sentinel-3 SLSTR, MAP derived by Sentinel-5 Precursor, and air pollution monitoring system stations in Tehran province, Iran. The method is designed in a moving average model with the use of a Python application programming interface, geographical information system, and remote sensing.
Result
The mean concentration of the Particulate Matter (PM), Sulfur Dioxide (SO₂), and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) are mainly in the Tehran metropolis and the core urban area. A negative correlation was noted between the PM₂.₅, SO₂, NO₂, and altitude. Additionally, increased altitude negatively affects LST, Carbon Monoxide (CO), and Ozone (O₃) values; whereas, CO and O₃ have positive correlations with LST, representing the mutual impacts of LST, CO, and O₃ values in Tehran province.
Monitoring urban Sprawl using time-series data: Famagusta region of Northern Cyprus
Monitoring urban sprawl is a controversial topic among scholars. Many studies have tried to employ various methods for monitoring urban sprawl in cases of North American and Northern and Western European cities. Although numerous methods have been applied with great success in various developed countries, they are predominantly impractical for cases of developing Mediterranean European cities that lack reliable census data. Besides, the complexity of the methods made them difficult to perform in underfunded situations. Therefore, this study aims to develop a new multidimensional method that researchers and planners can apply readily in developing Mediterranean European cities. The new method was tested in the Famagusta region of Northern Cyprus, which has been experiencing unplanned growth for the past half-century. In support of this proposal, a detailed review of the existing literature is presented with an emphasis on urban sprawl characteristics. Four characteristics were chosen to monitor urban sprawl’s development in the Famagusta region. The method was structured based on a time-series (2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016) dataset that used remote sensing data and geographical information systems to monitor the urban sprawl. Based on the findings, the Famagusta region experienced rapid growth during the last 15 years. The lack of a masterplan resulted in the uncontrolled expansion of the city in the exurban areas. The development configuration was polycentric and linear in form with single-use composition. Together, the expansion and configuration manifested as more built-up area, scattered development, and increased automobile dependency.
Urban sprawl measurement with use of VMT pattern: A longitudinal method in case of Famagusta
The sprawl as a result of rapid population growth appears when the city expands unplanned in the form of low-density development. The urban sprawl increase auto-dependency and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) because sprawl is a single-use and low-density development. Therefore, measuring urban sprawl is vital, since planners get the benefit of this measurement to curb future unplanned developments. The current study aims to measure sprawl with the VMT pattern. Accordingly, the non-traffic method provides a practical solution for estimating the annual VMT in the case of Famagusta. Secondly, the build-density calculated using Google™ Earth and Geographical Information System. Finally, the VMT will be coupling with build-density for measuring the urban sprawl. The current study in compared to the similar kinds has the following advantages: a) current method can be performed in case of developing countries; b) this method is independent of traffic odometers, high-resolution census data, and land-use maps; and c) current method able to measuring the urban sprawl together with pattern of accessibility.
Urban Sprawl Negative Impact: Enkomi Return Phase
Most of the cities around the world are dealing with different kinds of the problems such as social, environmental, economic and others. However, for many years, urban planners have attempted to find solutions that fit within the context and have put them into practice in order to shape the form of a city accordingly. One of the controversial problems which most of the developing and developed countries deal with it is urban sprawl, which affects everything and everyone in different scales. For last three decades, even in case of T.R.N. Cyprus, urban sprawl has become inevitable; urban sprawl is recognizable, sprawl construction becomes a profitable business for construction, real-estate, and others involved in this business. Unfortunately, some communities to realize their vision welcomed to urban sprawl construction and enthusiastically embrace it with open arm, such communities sacrifice sociability opportunity and vibrant neighborhood to those single-use towns which is one of the main characteristics is social exclusion and psychological problems, fundamentally one of the key factors can be found in lack of public awareness especially for who prefer to live in sprawl town. In T.R.N. Cyprus urban sprawl didn’t promote auto-dependency. Despite urban sprawl in T.R.N. Cyprus have many repercussions, one of the important impacts which are considered in this articles are psychological impact of urban sprawl, also this article attempt to divide urban sprawl leaving condition into three phases, and promote the contemplate phase which makes sprawl inhabitants think and return to inner-city neighborhood again.
The Effect of Rapid Urbanization On the Physical Modification of Urban Area
Today rapid urbanization is a major challenge for many cities. In 2007 urban population started to exceed the rural population. Increasingly, scholars and governments discuss the effects of this trend on future development of cities. It is obvious that any kind of urban development should be controlled and regulated, otherwise the outcome could lead to a chaotic and unsustainable development. Besides, it may result in environmental problems like air pollution, heat islands, urban climate and etc. Unfortunately, this kind of physical modification practically have not been considered by the planners and designers. The current study is grounded on recent literature review and tries to concentrate on this problem mainly from the development and construction performance perspective. Moreover, the current study attempts to classify the effective variables under the urban form, urban geometry, and urban population.
Impact of Urban Sprawl: The Case of the Famagusta, Cyprus
Urban sprawl is a debatable topic among scholars and so far, there is no universal agreement on its definition. However, the majority of researches emphasize the multidimensional character of this phenomenon. The causes for urban sprawl can mainly be seen in rapid urbanization resulting in a fast expansion of urban areas towards their suburban areas. Urban sprawl is not just affecting the spatial form of the city, but also has negative environmental, social and economic impacts. Most studies reveal that the negative impacts surpass the positive ones and result in automobile dependency, social fragmentation, numerous health issue, and etc. The main aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive overview of urban sprawl research by discussing definitions, dimensions, characters and causes of urban sprawl referring to current literature. Secondly, this study is focusing on sprawl development in Famagusta and its suburban region, Tuzla (Enkomi) area in North Cyprus. The main emphasis is on the negative impacts of sprawl in terms of social relations and auto dependency. This papers output is based on a pilot study in one of the neighborhoods in Tuzla region, the Turan Kaynak development.