Journal of Urban Planning and Development

Multiuse trail development has experienced rapid growth in the United States and many other countries. These trails are said to benefit local residents and stimulate economies, and in some cases are they are tourist attractions. Previous research explained many aspects of user dynamics and how trails benefit a community in general, but literature on the residents and property owners adjacent to trails is limited. However, this group is potentially affected more than other residents by trail development due to their proximity to the trail. Therefore, this exploratory case study focused on the benefits and concerns of those living and owning property adjacent to a trail. Many benefits commonly reported by general trail users were experienced by this study’s sample; however, the additional benefits of convenience and access, scenic views, and an enhanced social life were also revealed. While numerous benefits were uncovered, few concerns were voiced and often very individualistic. Differences in benefits and concerns were noted between respondents when characteristics such as trail use, land use, and time of ownership were evaluated. Findings provide constructive information for trail planners, managers, land developers, residential real estate professionals, and urban/rural-focused researchers.

The objective of this research is a preliminary examination of metro rail network extensiveness versus the city’s needs, aiming to assist the estimation of the adequacy of a metro network. This paper concentrated on comparing mature metro systems in several large European cities based on a selection of indicators relating metro network characteristics, i.e., length and number of stations, to city characteristics, e.g., population and density. A methodology exploiting these macroscopic characteristics in a strategic planning context was developed, and a combination of related indicators is proposed. This methodology is applied for the estimation of the degree of adequacy of the current Athens, Greece metro network in relation to the city’s needs. Findings indicate that the Athens metro network cannot be yet characterized as adequate, and specific proposals are made in terms of future network extensions. These proposals served as the initial reference point in a more sophisticated planning process for Athens metro system future development that outlined a future metro network of eight lines, 220 km, and 200 stations, setting in this way long-term targets for the main city transport infrastructure in order to mobilize the necessary resources and avoid infrastructure development conflicts.

In order to evaluate the degree of local development that a high-speed rail (HSR) link will bring to a city, it is essential to take into account the capacity of the stakeholders in the local community to organize themselves to take advantage of their endogenous resources. Through the application of a new methodology, an analysis is proposed of the development process as experienced by three medium-sized cities with an HSR link: Lleida, Spain, Avignon, France, and Novara, Italy. In the conclusions, attention is drawn to certain problems typically encountered by medium-sized cities when implementing their local projects. These are basically the existence of a weak network of local stakeholders, a low level of involvement of the urban area and its region in the local development project, and a pattern of conflictive multiscale relationships. In many cases, the fragility of this urban context is due to a lack of adequate processes of internal and external governance.

This paper investigates the multicenter development course of Istanbul based upon urban travel patterns in the city. The spatial distribution of population and employment between 1970 and 2000 illustrated a decentralizing trend in the urban structure. Hierarchical clustering analysis was used to determine relatively homogenous groups of interactions and to explain the interaction patterns among the districts. The results of the study supported the multicenter development at the lower level on both continents (Asia and Europe), and at the upper level between the continents. Determination of efficient locations of new subcenters was suggested for further research.

This paper attempts to determine the impact of community participation projects on the management of solid waste in some selected areas of Faisalabad, Pakistan. The government of the Punjab province initiated a project to upgrade the environment and solid waste management system in Faisalabad in different phases. This project was thought to be successful as it created a great sense of ownership among the residents of that particular society. With the help of questionnaire techniques, 800 households and shops in commercial areas were surveyed. The results showed that knowledge and awareness about the method of solid waste disposal changed greatly after a door-to-door campaign; at the same time, people gave good information regarding the in-house solid waste management of houses. Concerning the awareness projects on individual knowledge about health, the results have shown a highly significant impact of awareness campaigns on issues related to health awareness and practices for avoiding health diseases. Solid waste management became very common in the society after the initiation of the project. Daily visits of sanitary workers also motivated people to give waste to the sanitary workers rather than throwing it in the streets or along roadsides. The results have shown that the awareness campaign had a highly significant impact on the mindset of people. The behavior of people toward solid waste management has also been changed.

In this study, models of coupling coordinated development (CCD) between ecosystems and economic systems are proposed to evaluate the CCD status of large-scale areas such as the Chinese Loess Plateau, aiming to support decision making to promote county-level coordinated development. In the generated model with the evaluation criteria, the CCD relationship of the plateau was assigned to three classes and 7 types and 12 subtypes. It demonstrates that the CCD status between the ecosystem and the economic system in the Chinese Loess Plateau is at a very low level. Results obtained from this project indicate this quantitative evaluation method is concise, applicable, and effective. Most importantly, the work has established a novel methodological framework for CCD evaluation of large-scale areas.

Urban forests, and especially suburban and rural forests near major metropolitan areas, provide important ecosystem services. Rich forest resources are an asset of Beijing, and the number of forest recreationists has increased rapidly since the 1980s. To control the environmental impact of recreational activities and satisfy people’s diverse demands, a forest recreation opportunity spectrum (FROS) was designed for the suburban mountainous region of Beijing. FROS integrates social and environmental factors on the basis of on-site questionnaires and a 20-site field survey conducted in 2008 and 2009. Using the traditional recreation opportunity spectrum and water recreation opportunity spectrum as references, indicators for the three main criteria—biophysical, social, and management attributes—were chosen. These indicators classify forest recreational resources into five FROS classes, which range from suburban developed to suburban natural, rural developed, rural natural, and semiprimitive. The setting attributes, study findings, and management recommendations for each FROS class were analyzed, and the recreational opportunity classes were inventoried and mapped by GIS. According to the FROS, the distribution of different opportunities supplied in the suburban region of Beijing is not well matched with residents’ demands. These findings are based on a survey of network questionnaires. This study shows that visitors pay attention to the convenience of transport in choosing a recreational destination. Directing use away from suburban areas and to rural areas requires improvements in the transportation system, especially public transport. The FROS framework encourages managers to search beyond their own agency for information and provides an interagency, collaborative perspective to gather and analyze existing resources. This framework might be extensible to other regions except for the suburban mountainous areas of Beijing.