Journal of Urban Management and Energy Sustainability
Volume:1 Issue: 2, Summer 2019

Recent studies in urban environment has suggested a new term defined as the Urban Heat Island abbreviated as (UHI) which technically refers to the higher levels of temperature in comparison to surrounding environment due to land transformation and construction of man-made products resulting in many subsequent effects such as transforming the thermal comfort of urban area occupants and etc.. Since the discovery of the phenomenon, many scholars had studied the effects of the UHI and how it can be mitigated. Through different strategies implemented by governing bodies of cities are the strategies which aim to reduce the solar gain by the built environment through different techniques. One of these strategies is to reduce the solar radiation gain by these areas and focuses on increasing green spaces in the cities through parks, roofs, streets and etc.. This study reviews two successful example of these cities - London and New York City- to extract the underlying strategies that are implemented by these cities’ governing bodies. Results shows microclimates offered by parks (green spaces), plants and vegetation play a significant role in achieving this goal and on the other turning the surfaces albedo to a higher level through making them brighter can be two successful strategy in reducing the Urban Heat Islands.

Among different sectors of urban management, financial resource supply and income of city hall are significant, since on one hand income of city halls has a significant effect in providing services to citizens and on the other hand lack of sufficient income not only leads to lack of providing emergency services but also makes enforcement of urban plans encounter difficulties. In the research urban management and solutions for rising income of city halls (case study: Saggez City) were reviewed. The research has an applied objective and research method is cross-sectional where data were gathered through documentary-survey method. In order to analyze data, SWOT model was applied. The results indicated that city of Saggez and its City Hall have significant problems (weakness) in terms of urban management and income resources of city hall, therefore according to definitions, type two strategy (strategy of defeating) was selected, since the strategy applies its logic based on internal and external positive factors (strengths and weakness points) in order to minimize or disable internal negative factors

Today, information technology, one of the most important strategic tools in the management and administration true human bodies. With the development in addition to the city and retreat of problems with respect to the consequences that the industry modernization and urban life.As well, every bit for the city dwellers living, the city is stable. Of the most important obstacles in the city, poor management of sustainable urban transportation systems and the creation of traffic congestion. Usually cities in the development of three elements of energy, transportation and information technology have a special significance. The present study, fell out with the aim of modern technology to control traffic and the volume of energy consumption in the city of Semnan is considered. The primary question to resolve whether an urban transport management process with respect to the role of new technologies in traffic control and the volume of energy consumption is efficient?Demographic research a number of people living in the town of Semnan that steps through the formulation of the questionnaire and analysis of the two descriptive and face the inference, Chi-square  and Pearson and provide a conceptual model was carried out results of this research shows that the research hypotheses narrowly approved a new technology and intelligent traffic control and effective energy consumption and urban transport management is important, too. In regard to reflect this action in smart provide better planning of urban management and sustainable development through the metropolis.

Looking ahead is a deeply rooted motivation and even basic human has been faced with this problem, then it cannot be said that noticing future is a feature of modern humans. Merely in the contemporary era due to rise of awareness of human knowledge on one hand and escalating worries about the acceleration of unknown events on the other hand the thought of thinking of future of societies became popular in a more severe frame. The future is something that humans can design with their purposeful measures and then shape it. Increased complexity and precariousness in the few decades has led planners and policy-makers turn to scenario planning making in such circumstances. Adaptability of future methods in urban and regional planning, provides a meticulous approach for regional planning which is mostly based on the interpolation, compatibility and participation. This research was conducted with the goal of regional development and the feasibility of the program in Shemiranat County and through scenario planning in regional planning. Information needed for this research was compiled using an open and structured questionnaire through Delphi method and comments of experts and data from MICMAC in three cycles and then using interactive analysis techniques, they were analyzed in the software. Finally, according to Schwartz scenario writing was conducted. The results show that Shemiranat will face four main scenarios. The four scenarios will be described

The present study seeks to examine the impacts of urbanization on carbon emissions through the investigation of the existence of an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). Using the STIRPAT framework, this is the first study in Africa to explore the urbanization and carbon emissions nexus; using panel data together with semi-parametric panel fixed effects regression. Our dataset refers to a panel of 54 countries in Africa spanning the period 1980–2014. We find the evidence supports the presence of an inverted-U shaped relationship between urbanization and carbon emissions in the region. Overall, our findings suggest that environmental degradation in the continent may be reversible and environmental quality may be recoverable even with growing urbanization.

The review of urban growth patterns in recent decades has been suggestive of the sustainability of urban growth and maturation, and important environmental indicators indicate a grave threat to urban systems. In our land, as long as the practice of urban spatial growth and development was organic and determined the urban growth of “intrinsic” and local elements, the metropolitan area was also sufficient for traditional urban uses and there was a rest between the environment and the city, merely since the fundamental for the growth and expansion of cities by the social, economic and political changes led the “exogenous” nature, the practice of many Iranian cities took rapid and uncontrollable trend. The term “urban sprawl” is used today negatively and is used to describe the low density, inefficient development of the city boundaries. Likewise, it examines the positions and experiences related to the sustainability phenomenon, patterns and indices of nationalized and localized sustainability in Iran, which demand to be more localized by more accurate regional zoning and urban subjects, hence that the correct outcomes and strategies to be delineated on them. This research tries to explain the urban areas by using studies and explaining the general precepts of the extent of the distribution or sustainability of existing development.

Selecting optimal location of gas power plants is one of challenging issues in the environmental assessment of development projects. This article aimed to study the optimal location for the construction of a thermal power plant in Sirjan, Iran based in environmental criteria using an integrated method (AHP1 and TOPSIS2). In this research, we studied the certain regional features. Delphi was used to identify the environment, power plant-related parameters affecting the location process. AHP was employed to prioritize and determine the weights of criteria and sub-criteria in Expert Choice. Then, TOPSIS and prioritized criteria by AHP were employed to form the decision matrix for 6 sites based on 13 macro indices and 36 sub-criteria. In this study, combined components were taken into account including power plant factors; environmental, physical, and biological factors, technical-economic factor, and background contamination. The results showed that Technical-Economic Factor with the weight of 0.4830 was prioritized first followed by Physical and Biological Index with weights of 0.272 and 0.157, respectively. Then, expert judgments were used in TOPSIS decision-making process in order to form the initial matrix. Once this stage was complete, the matrices were weighted using the weights of criteria. The distance of each option was estimated from the Positive Ideal Solution and Negative Ideal Solution. Accordingly, Closeness Coefficient was calculated. Eventually, the best site scenario was determined. Among the six proposed sites, Site II was found to be the best option in terms of environmental, economic, and technical factors.

Residential open space is considered an opportunity to have more relationship with nature and a place for social interactions. Upward to the limitation of internal space in residential units and its relation to exterior space, traversing up and recognizing the current land of open spaces will result in designing the residential open spaces more consciously in the hereafter. Open spaces between residential buildings are placed in daily life where residents have relations with nature and spend their leisure time. In current conditions, the houses built in urban cores such as Tehran are not capable to supply most of the Iranian life needs. Considering the decrease of per capita level of residential floor area, if residential open space can supply the individual and societal requirements of residents in various ages, it can be possible to transfer most of the life activities of the interior space to open spaces of complexes and to correct the life shortcomings in residential units with low areas around. In Expanding residential complex scale and their open spaces, residential open space scale goes beyond the household; it found a scale such as local and urban open space, however exploring in urban form and manage how masses shape could produce the wholeness of urban spaces is too important.

The Historical fabric of cities is facing specific structural and functional problems and obstacles due to their historical value and a mere physical look of renovation and improvement projects. In recent years, regeneration and sustainable urban regeneration programs have been taken into consideration owing to social status and economic decline. Despite all the aforementioned aspects of sustainable development in a sustainable regeneration, the prevailing later view is the “social sustainability”, which is “social sustainability is certainty of development. Having a rich history and tourism potential options, Saheb Abad site in Tabriz is facing specific structural and functional obstacles; the projects suggested in recent years have been restricted to very limited physical procedures ignoring social aspects. Thus, the purpose of the present article is to assess the social sustainability by the sociable sustainable criteria that extracts from the theoretical fundamentals of the research. The main research question is whether there is social sustainability in Saheb Abad site. For this purpose, social sustainability has been assessed using descriptive-analytic method, determining social, sustainable variables such as the identity, security, partnership of local communities, access to public services, education and poverty, as well as the studies carried out based on field deductions performed through national documents, interviews and questionnaires among the residents of the Saheb Abad site. The results show that the rate of identity indicator, security indicator and the involvement of local communities are in the high, low and medium ranges, successively, and access to public services is estimated to be low in this area. Moreover, the rate of literacy is low, and that this area is facing a high rate of poverty. It can be concluded that Saheb Abad Square is sustainable regarding social aspects. This shows that social sustainability must be emphasized for the sustainable urban regeneration.

Social capital is a concept that dates back to the eighteenth century and earlier, and has been used extensively in urban planning and management. Social capital is only a group of processes that are the result of societal actions and can be employed to satisfy the personal and general needs of people and improve their quality of life. The concept of social capital is indebted to the efforts of three social thinkers, Pierre Bourdieu, Robert Putnam and James Coleman, who have had an important influence on the theoretical development of social capital. The thinkers have considered the area of social capital as micro, medium, and macro levels, and divided its dimensions into cognitive (subjective) and structural (objective) dimensions.On a city scale, social capital can promote the economic growth of the city, because by providing a climate of confidence, it facilitates cooperation among different groups. The quality of social relations also affects the future development of neighborhoods. If a metropolitan area receives a bad reputation, the middle and upper classes of the community are unwilling to be in those regions, and only those who lack adequate income to be elsewhere or look for benefits in the emerging situation, will be willing to endure in those countries.The purpose of the present research is to identify the components of social capital at different levels and to localize indicators and components of social capital at the level of urban neighborhoods. The components were extracted and analyzed by an exploratory- documentary method, and finally the framework of the conceptual model of neighborhoods was classified in two dimensions of objective and subjective and four main components of trust, participation and solidarity and social relations and fifteen indicators.

The concept of sustainability in the last age has become amplified. Its beginning can be traced far back in the fields of economics and natural resources, relating to the content of natural stocks, the Malthusian concept of resource exhaustion due to population increase. The theory that the spatial form of factors in an urban region influences ecosystem dynamics is based along the estimate that the spatial forms of the urban setting alter the biophysical structure and habitat and act upon the flows of resources. Just recently the relationship between urban patterns and energy efficiency, energy saving or renewable energy local exploitation is getting more and more significant. The much important challenge in this matter always is connected to how we can evaluate different views of the main subjects and can be aware of proper results to have best conclusion. Anyway, for this evaluation new methods need to have adopted by newest technologies that extract accurate data and data. All of new approaches such as, City as a system, Urban metabolism VS Pattern Oriented, integrated PSR-POM approach for urban - energy systems and etc. lead to present newest models and tools like Pixel by pixel analysis, Pixel by pixel analysis, Ranking system, Multivariate statistical analysis, LIDAR system and other tools, nevertheless in this paper the methods will be presented to know how can measure with this standard in urban morphology field in the approach to energy sustainability.

Nowadays, many countries have taken measures and policies for development of zero or low carbon buildings. Regarding the technological advancements from one hand and increase of problems from the other hand, sustainable development has been recognized as one of the priorities on developed countries. Sustainable development is a new platform considering politics and culture and at the same time emphasizes on economy, trade and industry and also supports environment, nature and equality of human rights. Building can bring various advantages and disadvantages for our society and environment. Therefore, the main objective of the present research is to investigate the main concepts of carbon-zero buildings in order to reduce energy consumption in buildings. In this way, effects and logic of carbon application has been recognized as an index of sustainability. The methodology of this research is analytical and documental research method. The results of research show that, Improvement of buildings energy efficiency by technological, supervision, voluntarily and financial encouragements is desirable. As urban areas have high potential for improvement of energy efficiency, low carbon buildings, in addition to building technology, residential environments with low carbon have to be designed in urban areas and Spatial planning can also play an important role in guiding the building sector to use lower amount of carbon.