Abstract:In cities, social well-being faces obstacles posed by globalization, demographic and climate change, new forms of social organization, and the fragmentation of lifestyles. These changes affect the vulnerability of city societies and impact their health-related urban well-being (UrbWellth). The conceptual model introduced in this paper systematizes the relevant variables while considering previous research, and establishes the target value UrbWellth. The model differs from existing approaches mainly in the analytical distinctions it suggests. These allow us to group the relevant urban influence variables into four sectors and enable a more general and abstract consideration of health-related urban relations. The introduction of vulnerability as a filter and transfer function acts as an effect modifier between UrbWellth and the various urban variables.
The decarbonization of the mobility and energy sector is one of the major necessary trends for achieving targets set for the European Union (EU) in the 2020 and 2030 climate and energy frameworks. Two key technologies which offer great potential for climate change mitigation are electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energies (REs). Thus, there is the need for innovative and stable policies in order to favor these technologies. The purpose of the study is to identify and compare features of policies for the integration of EVs, REs, and information and communication technology (ICT). This study uses an integrated Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT), and Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal (PESTEL) qualitative methodology in order to show different policies and initiatives, related to e-mobility, RE and ICT, collected from five European regions. This research provides discernments to the EVs and RE challenges, such as the lack of capacity to deal with high energy demands or limited EV-charging infrastructure. On the contrary, a high percentage of REs share, raising climate change awareness, and decreasing EV prices which are great opportunities for the whole EU. Such insights encourage policymakers and other groups of interest to improve their RE and mobility policies, which could lead to effective sustainable mobility systems in urban areas.Sustainability 2020, 12, 2935 2 of 21 vehicles (EVs) and renewable energies (REs). Therefore, it is important to co-develop a framework of experiences and policies where energy and mobility will work together and not act as different entities. For this reason, the INTERREG EUROPE EV ENERGY (Electric Vehicles for City Renewable Energy Supply) project consortium was created. The partners from five European regions (Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands) have identified a need for a common framework and repository of interrelated and analyzed policies and initiatives to lay the basis for systematic interregional dissemination. The majority of the partners have gained experience in analyzing opportunities and developing actions and policies. This research provides insight into the EV and RE challenges and opportunities within the European Region project partners.Registrations of new electric cars in 2017 reached over 1 million sales worldwide; as a result, the global stock exceeded 3 million electric cars in 2017 [4]. That notwithstanding, EVs will be even more advantageous if electricity is generated by RE sources [5,6]. The implementation growth of support schemes for RE technology and decreasing costs of RE systems made a positive impact in the consumption of RE [7]. The share of RE in gross final energy consumption reached 18.9% in 2018 (from 8.5% in 2004). Moreover, the transport sector increased the share of RE to 8.3% in 2018RE to 8.3% in , compared to 3.1% in 2007. Smart charging applications could also boost the share of RE used to charge the EVs; in particular, wind and solar energy is becoming an importan...
The meaning of the term “green city” today is more related to sustainability rather than to vegetation or greenery. Therefore, the aim of this research is not to develop another complex green index, but simply to calculate and compare a share of greenery among functional urban areas of three Baltic capitals. Comparison was done using GIS tools and analysing Urban Atlas, CORINE and degree of soil sealing datasets. Although the results of Urban Atlas and CORINE datasets showed slight disagreement, it has been discovered that Tallinn has the highest share of greenery, Vilnius is in the middle and Riga is the last. Analysis of 1990, 2000, 2006 and 2012 CORINE datasets showed the highest relative decrease of greenery in Riga (2.53 %) over time, Tallinn was the second (1.44 %) and the smallest decrease (0.53 %) was in Vilnius. The analysis of degree of soil sealing demonstrated the highest relative share of pervious surfaces in Tallinn (95.5 %) and the smallest share in Vilnius (92.1 %), therefore this research nominates Tallinn as the greenest (literally) capital of the Baltic States.
Urban environments are potentially threatened by changing climate, especially in form of heat and flash flood hazards. Therefore, there is an urgent need to assess future urban vulnerability to these phenomenons. Purpose of this research is to define heat and flash flood indicators, based on land use, cover and morphology ofurban environments. We enhanced a standard scheme of local climate zones with extended urban morphology, which plays a key role in urban heat island effect. As heat hazard indicator we defined number of days, with fixed threshold exceeded temperature. Meanwhile for flash flood hazard we selected Curve Number, which considers soil type, hydrologic condition, land use, cover and percentage of impervious surface. Both of these indicators can be related to discrete urban classes and be ranked by hazard severity. Further step is to model future urban environment withrelation of heat and flash flood hazards, which eventually will be incorporated into future urban vulnerability framework.
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