Cities under Siege: Urban Planning and the Threat of Infectious Disease

Many analysts argue that the potential for a natural, accidental, or nefarious infectious disease event to have a dramatic impact on urban areas in the United States and abroad is growing. After reviewing the justification for this position, this article considers what cities should do to prepare for a major disease event. Recognizing that prevention and preparation receive insufficient attention, we recommend that planners seek out and work with both public and private sector groups with roles in disaster planning; design land and transportation planning information systems to aid and support decision makers during crises; encourage greater self-sufficiency in food production and consumption; assist in the design of humane, realistic evacuation strategies and routes; and consider the effects of their day-to-day recommendations on disease risk and response.     

Application and comparison of two different dual drainage models to assess urban flooding

Two types of dual drainage models were set up to assess urban flooding for a study area in Germany: (1) a static model based on a conventional method in Germany; the overflow volumes of the manholes are gained by the sewer solver HYSTEM-EXTRAN. Using these water volumes and geographic information system (GIS) tools, an overland flow network, composed of flow paths and accumulated water in sinks, is produced, (2) a HYSTEM-EXTRAN 2D model; a two-dimensional (2D) overland flow module is coupled bi-directionally with HYSTEM-EXTRAN. The overland flow and the flow in the sewer system are simulated alternately.

Both models were supplied with a synthetic design rainfall and 25 extreme storms. After comparing the models and the results, a practical approach to assess urban flooding is proposed. In this approach the 2D model will compute the depth, extent, and propagation of floods only in the prone areas specified by the static model.     

The management of urban surface water drainage in England and Wales

Partly in response to the UK flooding events of 2007, a number of reports have recently been produced addressing the legislative, administrative, institutional and structural practices that are required to improve urban surface water management and hence reduce future flooding incidents and associated pollution impacts. This paper addresses the principal barriers to progress that have been identified and how these are likely to be overcome. Improved and integrated organisational structures, process and procedures are required and relationships between flood risk management and water quality need to be addressed at regional, area and local levels as well as legislative clarification on surface water discharges. Nontechnical aspects will need to be supported by new modelling approaches for flood risk prediction at both local and catchment scale with effective communication systems and tools being developed and implemented for full and effective stakeholder participation.     

Using linked process models to improve urban groundwater management: an example from Doncaster England

Linked water process models that simulate the complexities of urban water systems for towns overlying productive aquifers can help improve and better integrate urban water resource management. The Assessing and Improving the Sustainability of Urban Water Resources and Systems (AISUWRS) project has successfully linked together water scheduling, pipe leakage and groundwater flow models and applied these models to case studies in Europe and Australia. This paper describes the application and results of the modelling tools for a case study suburb in Doncaster England. The linking of process models offers the prospect of better quantification of flows and contaminant loads, and diverse scenarios were readily simulated once the base case had been set‐up. The linked models produced higher estimates of recharge than previous estimates, and this may suggest that suburban catchments are an underutilised resource. At a time when increasing urbanisation and rising water use is predicted for groundwater‐dependent southern England, there is a need for such tools to make the most of increasingly urbanised aquifers.     

Resilient urban drainage – Options of an optimized area-management

There is a need for an integrated approach for all involved stakeholders to adapt urban infrastructures to climate change effects and to take into account uncertainties of future developments. By integrating all relevant planning disciplines, a first step towards implementation of resilient technical and social infrastructures can be achieved. With the major goal of optimizing area-management as part of water sensitive urban design, the water sector and its area requirements build the main focus of this study. After identifying local flood hazards and potential surficial retention areas, the additional usage of decentralized stormwater management facilities for flood protection is tested in selected sectors. The results of the study confirm that the combined usage of decentralized facilities for pluvial flooding is a first step to protect urban infrastructure. It shows that decentralized facilities are more flexible than centralized facilities and, thus, have a higher adaptation capacity which is needed considering the various effects of climate change.     

New Patterns in Urban Design

Brian McGrath and VictoriaMarshall discern the newly resilient urban patterns that are emerging in the meta-city, shifting and adjusting to changing local and global conditions. Based on smart infrastructure, self-sufficiency and hybrid local models, highly adaptive design patterns take the form of responsive micropatches rather than overarching masterplans. As demonstrated by the featured projects, ‘pattern recognition’, sensory mapping techniques and sensitivity to a city's ecosystem are becoming essential tools to the urban designer. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

节水型园林绿地雨水利用探析

对城市园林绿地用水存在的问题进行了分析,得出节水型园林绿地建设的现实意义,探讨了城市绿地雨水利用的途径,并以杭州地区某绿地为例进行了具体的分析,以把雨水利用与景观营建结合起来,将“耗水型”园林变为“节水型”园林。     

城市供水、用水、排水数据的信息化管理系统

利用Visual Basic 6.0开发工具,嵌入地理信息系统MAPINFO、办公系统EXCEL,建立一个基于《中国城市建设统计年报》数据的城市供水、用水、排水信息系统。该系统利用城市代码库实现了统计区域的多种选择,具有区域数据汇总、指定范围各城市统计指标历史曲线查询、形成各类专题图、统计结果EXCEL图表输出等功能,是宏观城市供水、用水、排水历史与现状研究的实用工具。     

基于植物群落的城市设计

城市植物群落是城市绿地的基本构成单位,规模适中、结构合理的城市植物群落健康的发展演替,对于城市生态环境的稳定与改善极为有利。在城市设计中宜根据植物群落对土地面积和土壤、水等的要求,正确利用城市的生境资源,保护并培育城市植物群落,以求高效地改善城市生态环境。在内部空间、外部环境设计中应结合植物群落的生境、城市野生动物的栖息需求以及景观文化来进行相应的处理。     

The impact of the London Olympic Parkland on the urban heat island

The London Olympic Parkland represents a substantial area of redevelopment with the potential to significantly modify urban temperatures. This paper illustrates a neighbourhood-scale model of the type that can be used to analyse the impact of large developments on the urban heat island, using the London Olympic Parkland as an example. Using the Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling System Temperature and Humidity model, the impact of the urban surfaces for the Parkland area (～16 km²) is modelled at a 400 m² grid resolution for the pre-Olympic, Olympic and Legacy periods. Temperature perturbations from upwind values are simulated for the periods to estimate the contribution the Parkland has on local air temperatures. The results illustrate the impact that large impermeable features such as the concourse might have on increased air temperatures during Olympic period design conditions. In comparison, a Legacy scenario shows temperature reductions from the pre-Olympic period due to an increase in vegetation coverage.     

Urban diffuse pollution: key data information approaches for the Water Framework Directive

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) provides a coherent structure within which the problems of diffuse urban pollution can be effectively tackled and managed. The context of impermeable surface water quality within the terms of the Directive are outlined, and the pollutant sources and loadings associated with various urban land uses are identified. Stormwater flows and quality are sufficient to prejudice any ‘good’ ecological potential, particularly in terms of chronic receiving water sediment toxicity. A simple volume–concentration method for the prediction of pollutant loadings and impact assessment on a subcatchment scale is described and discussed.     

回归本源——对城市增长边界“永久性”与“阶段性”的探讨

针对我国城市空间增长出现高速低效、整体结构失衡、整体容量控制失效的问题,城市增长边界作为城市增长管理的重要工具在我国并没有发挥真正的效用。本文立足于城市增长边界在我国的规划实践,结合典型发达国家对城市空间增长管理的分析,试追溯城市增长边界基本内涵,对城市增长边界与我国现有空间管制工具——"三区四线"、"规划区"、"城市建设用地边界"、"城市开发边界"的关系进行辨析。提出我国城市增长边界应具有双重内涵——基于区域发展观和城乡统筹原则,体现"底线"思维和城市最终远景规模特征的"永久性"城市增长边界,和基于"分期规划"的理念,体现城市阶段性发展特征的、保证过程紧凑的"阶段性"城市增长边界。最终通过对国外多年实践经验的总结提出城市增长边界的实施需要结合切实有效的控制技术和管理政策,从而实现保护区域生态环境与城市建设的平衡的最终目标。     

At the Crossroads between Urban Planning and Urban Design: Critical Lessons from Three Italian Case Studies

Planning experiences in Milan, Rome and Bologna are presented as critical laboratories for discussing new directions in research at the crossroads between urban planning and urban design. Drawing on these cases, it is suggested that issues tied to physical design are crucial in managing contemporary planning processes. The medium- and long-term strategy of a city can become effective through the design of a structural and spatial vision that takes into account morphological aspects and coherently prioritizes a set of development projects. Planning codes and urban policy tools can be improved through the preliminary control of typological and morphological requirements. In this sense, typical urban design themes and problems require further attention in both theoretical debates as well as in planning practice.     

大巴黎规划国际咨询中“都市农业”设计思想探析

大巴黎规划国际咨询会是在《京都议定书》之后,首次以解决大都市问题、探讨城市的可持续发展方式为中心的设计研究盛会。参会的规划师、建筑师们从促进城乡融合、加强景观与环境的连续性、减少相关资源消耗、实现食物的自给自足等不同角度出发,不约而同地都采用了都市农业设计策略。这些成果可为我国城镇化规划建设提供有益思路与借鉴。通过案例分析与归纳,总结各方案在实施都市农业策略过程中所采用的形式操作手法,以及处理相关环境、经济与社会问题的措施。借鉴大巴黎国际咨询的成果,提出在我国发展都市农业的步骤与原则。     

节点剖分法在城区地下水计算中的应用研究

 城区渗流场中地下阻水结构物众多,由于结构物角点为奇异点,而且结构物的尺寸跟整个渗流场的尺寸相比起来非常小,这导致现有的计算方法难以对城区渗流场进行模拟分析。针对城区渗流场的这些特点,通过引进流体力学的复势、偶极子、绕流等理论,采用剖分节点并在节点上施加流量,从而形成等阻水效果的方法对结构物进行等效模拟。首先研究单个结构体元素绕流的模拟问题,然后研究渗流场的迭代计算问题。在这些理论的基础上,开发相应的有限元计算程序并通过算例进行验证。     

跨水域城市空间形态初探

城市的形成,发展和分布与水息息相关,跨越水域拓展城市空间是城市发展的主要方式之一。首先分析跨形态生成,演进的规律;进而分别从二维形态和三一项诉研究视角出发,分析跨水域城市肌理,开放空间形态和建成环境的实体形态要素。     

改善上海市区暴雨积水区对策研究

市区暴雨积水区改善工程是关系到人民生活、居住及出行的大事,也是关系到上海国际大都市形象的大事,其社会效益、环境效益、经济效益是显著的。该文分析了暴雨积水区成因、探讨了改善积水区对策、并对实施也提出了重要建议。     

城镇体系分析系统的升级开发与研究

首先介绍了城镇体系分析系统 (USAP)的基本功能与应用范围 ;分析了其中功能扩展部分的概念定义、计算方法和软件实现过程 ;介绍了该系统的使用方法 ,包括界面的操作和数据库的录入规则 ;指出该系统中仍然存在的问题和改进方向。     

生态智慧视野下北京中心地区历史水系廊道恢复研究

北京地区在历史上对水系的利用和改造反映了中国传统营城中人与自然和谐共生的伟大智慧。其依靠自然不断利用、拓展、发掘新水源,依靠人工持续利用、维护、控制地表水系,注重多功能用水与城市水景融合,尊重历史水系的综合再利用,都是历代劳动人民实践的结晶。为了合理借鉴、保护和发展这些生态智慧,通过对北京中心地区高分辨率和高清晰遥感数据在地理信息系统中进行地表水系解译、水系服务廊道空间量化和恢复情景对比展开研究。结果显示:恢复玉河正义路段对水系服务廊道提升效率最高;前三门护城河、西护城河、龙须沟和东护城河潜在的水系服务廊道将会为北京中心地区带来较为完整的地表水系服务覆盖系统。传统营城生态智慧在今天依然具有旺盛的生命力。对北京历史水系进行保护、恢复、建设和发展,不仅可以为城市生态系统服务提供载体,更可以为城市文脉修复提供水系空间支撑。