Sustainability has attracted expert's attention in recent years, which is generally categorized into social, economic, and environmental approaches. The verification of green roofs’ positive environmental impact has been investigated in several studies. However, little researchers have tested the combined effect of green roofs and internal patios on energy consumption. The purpose of this research studies the energy performance of a scholastic building equipped with a green roof and internal patios since the vast area of schools' roofs has great potential for green roof installation. Moreover, schools can play an underlying role in promoting sustainability as the first culture-creating social environment. For this aim, computer simulations of a school building on the presence and absence of a green roof plus two internal patios were conducted by Design Builder software. As a result, the analysis showed that these living elements as green architectural parameters in designing a green school make a significant reduction rate of energy consumption. The results of these simulations showed a 34.23% decrease in the rate of heat generation, 17.48% in electrical energy for cooling, 15.30% in sensible cooling, 17.46% in total cooling, 34.22% in zone heating, and 21.04% in the scale of the total electrical energy for one year.

The extensive circular mobility among daily commuters in the Jakarta Metropolitan Area is causing mobility inefficiencies, resulting in traffic congestion and economic and social losses. This situation stimulates the government to provide mixed-use housing in Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) zones, aiming to foster sustainable mobility through a compact living framework. The current provisioning system has struggled to commuters effectively, leading to persistently high levels of circular mobility. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the factors affecting the commuter need on the mixed-use housing in TOAD areas and preferences for the provisioning system. This influence was analyzed using the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) method, while preferences were analyzed using cross-tabulation. The preferences analysis referred to four indicators: ownership systems, price affordability, income, and unit size. The results showed that 65.94% of commuters expressed a need for mixed-use housing, stimulated by considerations such as travel distance and cost. Among all, 55.76% preferred a rental ownership system with a price of < 1 million IDR/month or 1-2 million IDR/month. The willingness to pay for the rental price depended on income levels. And those who want to buy, prefer the lowest price of the mixed-use housing. Those characteristics and preferences should been considered by the government or developer in obtaining the sustainable TOD areas.

Sustainable tourism has significantly contributed to the transformation of Malaysia’s island tourism landscape. The focus on environmental sustainability has emerged as a substantial concern, driven by its role in improving and enhancing tourist experiences and foster green tourism. Small islands are especially susceptible to environmental challenges due to their inherent vulnerability and limited resources in contrast to mainland areas. Nevertheless, numerous tourists are drawn to these remote and environmentally fragile havens. Hence, the primary goal of this study is to evaluate tourist’s behaviour and their level of acceptance towards environmentally sustainable tourism. The research involves a quantitative approach, encompassing a sample size of 398 tourists from four islands: Redang, Perhentian, Tioman, and Tinggi. The findings have culminated in the development of an environmental sustainability model, meticulously examined through the advanced PLS-SEM analysis technique. This study has successfully identified numerous factors that influence tourists to adopt eco-friendly behaviours include awareness, knowledge, and facility. This comprehensive study has effectively discerned a multitude of critical factors contributing to the promotion of environmentally sustainable tourism, with a particular focus on eco-friendly tourists. These influencing elements drive tourists towards the adoption of eco-friendly behaviours, encompassing heightened awareness, extensive knowledge, and accessible eco-friendly facilities. The insights garnered from this research shed light on the intricate interplay of these factors in fostering a sustainable and eco-conscious approach to tourism. It seamlessly aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reinforcing its commitment to fostering responsible and sustainable tourism practices. This study contributes to the global agenda by promoting environmentally conscious eco-friendly tourists. The results of this study will yield substantial benefits for tourists and organisations directly or indirectly involved in the tourism sectors.

Buildings are a substantial contributor to climate change. Accordingly, several high-performing building concepts have emerged, including low-energy buildings, zero-carbon buildings (ZCBs), nearly zero-carbon buildings (nZCBs), and sustainable buildings, applicable to both new constructions and retrofitting. Traditional retrofitting strategy applied in a mixed-use building only consider the structural envelope, lighting and HVAC systems, without much focus on the type of function housed inside the building. Understanding the impact of vertical functional zoning is crucial for developing targeted retrofit strategies that optimize energy efficiency and reduce carbon footprints in mixed-use buildings. The objective of this study is to investigate and identify strategies for achieving low-to-net zero emissions during the façade retrofitting process of existing mixed-use buildings in Abu Dhabi. In this research, a methodology combining qualitative analysis and simulation modelling has been chosen to effectively address the objectives and subject matter. The initial phase involves conducting a thorough literature review, specifically focusing on the methods and techniques used in retrofitting mixed-use buildings to achieve the transition from low to net-zero carbon concept. Additionally, the study explores the influence of vertical zoning parameters on the energy consumption and carbon emissions using Building Information Modelling (BIM) application within the context of façade retrofitting. Research results indicate that the type, order and height of functions within the mixed-use building significantly impact the annual energy consumption and total cost. Whereas, carbon emissions are mainly impacted by the order of function. This endeavour necessitates the development of appropriate design specifications considering the vertical zoning parameters, a comprehensive understanding of intervention sequencing, and the implementation of innovative practices.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) addresses the rapid construction growth by prioritizing optimal retrofit solutions for existing buildings. The primary objective of building envelope retrofitting is to reduce energy consumption and enhance passive design strategies. This research thoroughly examines building envelope retrofitting measures emphasizing the importance of energy efficiency. The study also compares two other residential building codes of places similar to Abu Dhabi's climate, provides an overview of the current building stock in UAE and the architectural identity of the capital city of Abu Dhabi. Inferences from the literature review was used to develop a retrofit review matrix suited for evaluating the retrofit strategies of Abu Dhabi. Furthermore, the paper utilizes energy simulation case studies of two existing buildings in Abu Dhabi, comparing the influence of Wall-window-ratio, window shades, glass properties, HVAC system and PV panel efficiency and surface coverage. It explores methods for retrofitting residential building envelopes to advance greener energy optimization standards in Abu Dhabi aiming to guide future projects and improve the capital's building portfolio database. Given that many buildings, including historical ones, are expected to remain until 2050, retrofitting represents a vital opportunity to enhance urban environments. This approach not only improves occupant comfort but also maintains essential functional aspects such as thermal, visual, and acoustic performance, ultimately leading to reduced energy consumption.

This research aimed to conserve and develop suburban agricultural areas in Roi Et Province to support urban development in line with a green economy policy. The study examined the physical, economic, and social conditions of these areas, as well as land-use changes. Using Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis, factors influencing the persistence and decline of agricultural land were assessed, alongside an evaluation of production ecosystems in suburban farming areas. Furthermore, a SWOT analysis was employed to identify suitable areas for agricultural conservation through urban planning measures and in-depth interviews with key informants. The findings revealed that Dong Lan Subdistrict and Niwet Subdistrict are suitable for conserving food security in the suburban agricultural areas of Roi Et Province. However, these agricultural lands are increasingly being sold and converted into housing developments or other uses. To address this challenge, collaboration among stakeholders is essential for implementing effective conservation measures. Efforts should prioritize stable and sustainable farmer incomes, ensuring long-term agricultural viability. Modern agricultural technologies and innovative practices are key to preventing suburban agricultural land loss. These strategies enhance agricultural productivity and align with the broader vision of sustainable green economic cities.

The impact of COVID-19 on urban workplaces has led to an increasing demand for coworking spaces (CWSs) in Bangkok and has expanded CWSs into suburban areas. This study examines the impacts of COVID-19 on CWSs and focuses on the spatial pattern of CWSs in Bangkok. It seeks to answer the following question: Does the business operation of CWSs in Bangkok have a clustered pattern? Moran's I statistic was employed to investigate the spatial autocorrelation of CWSs in Bangkok before and during COVID-19. The locations and the business operational statuses of CWSs are the main variables.The results of spatial autocorrelation analysis of the CWSs in Bangkok show that before COVID-19, the overall CWSs in Bangkok were spatially clustered patterns with nearby CWSs. Surviving CWSs may not have been spatially related during the pandemic, while closed CWSs were spatially clustered patterns. Key findings show that the operational status of the overall CWSs and closed CWSs influenced nearby CWSs. However, the operational status of surviving CWSs may not have influenced nearby CWSs.The discussion of CWS spatial patterns and the impact of COVID-19 suggests that the spatial patterns of CWSs challenge the location theory. They blur the traditional workplace usage boundaries, particularly redefining the concept of third places, as people can now work from anywhere with flexibility. Furthermore, these patterns could influence future strategies for the development of urban workspace, infrastructure, and transportation network.

Urban sustainability and reduced carbon emissions have become critical challenges in contemporary urban development, with residents' daily travel distances significantly impacting both the environmental and social aspects of city life. Despite extensive research on travel behavior, Crossroads Density: Number of Crossroads within 500m the complex relationship between the built environment and travel behavior remains inadequately understood due to the limitations of traditional linear analyses. To address this gap, this study introduces an analytical approach grounded in an interpretable machine learning framework to investigate the pivotal environmental factors influencing residents' daily travel distances and to understand their underlying mechanisms. Initially, a variety of machine learning regression models were constructed to evaluate their predictive efficacy regarding residents' daily travel distances. Among these, the CatBoost model demonstrated the most accurate fit, highlighting the robustness of the methodology. Subsequently, the SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) methodology was employed to ascertain the significance of each feature's contribution, thereby elucidating the extent and non-linear dynamics of various built environmental indicators on travel distances. The findings indicate that the POI (Point of Interest) diversity index, the proportion of main roads, the proximity to the city center, and other factors significantly influence residents' travel distances, exhibiting observable interactive effects. Importantly, these results underscore the implications of the built environment on travel behavior, offering actionable insights for urban planners. By focusing on the built environment's impact on travel distances, this study's interpretable machine learning framework delves into the multi-factorial non-linear correlations, providing a valuable tool for enhancing urban spatial planning, reducing travel distances, lowering traffic emissions, and thereby contributing to the sustainable development of cities.

After years of contamination, rivers may get large amounts of heavy metal pollution. Our investigation's goal is to identify the river's hazardous locations. In our study case, we select the zinc-contaminated floodplains of the Meuse River (Zn). Excessive zinc levels may lead to various health issues, including anemia, rashes, vomiting, and cramping in the stomach. However, there isn't a lot of sample data available about the Meuse River's zinc concentration; as a result, it's necessary to generate the missing data in unidentified regions. This study employs universal Kriging in spatial data mining to explore and predict unknown zinc pollutants. The semivariogram is a useful tool for representing the variability pattern of zinc. This captured model will be interpolated using the Kriging method to predict the unknown regions. Regression with geographic weighting makes it possible to see how stimulus-response relationships change over space. We use a variety of semivariograms in our work, such as matern, exponential, and linear models. We also propose Universal Kriging and geographically weighted regression. The experimental findings show that: (i) the matern model, as determined by calculating the minimum error sum of squares, is the best theoretical semivariogram model; and (ii) the universal kriging predictions can be visually demonstrated by projecting the results onto the real map.

The spatial scope of water bodies and wetlands, as well as their degradation and the effectiveness of institutional responses to their protection, remain poorly documented in Ghana. Using a case study of Sunyani, Ghana, this study draws on mixed methods to address two research objectives: (1) to identify and examine the status of water bodies and wetlands; and (2) to assess the effectiveness of management systems aimed at protecting these resources. The results show a shift from vegetative cover and waterbody land categories to built-up areas over the past two decades (2003–2023). In 2003, water covered 7.95% of the total area, but this declined sharply to 4.37% in 2013 and 2.79% in 2023. The study also found weak collaboration between stakeholders in the management of water resources, with little or no involvement from local communities. Addressing these challenges requires that Sunyani’s municipal government incorporate local knowledge and community experiences into their policies and programmes that protect water resources and wetlands. This approach could support a more sustainable urban environment that balances development with the preservation of essential ecosystems.

It is commonly thought in city development that more development areas should be in the central business districts (CBDs) and residential areas (RAs). However, the existence of green open spaces (GOSs) has received less attention in efforts to preserve colonial cities (CCs) in Indonesia. Green open spaces (GOSs) primarily serve as balancers of ecological functions, including controlling air and water quality and balancing microclimates. The purpose of this study was to calculate the pattern of GOSs due to the development of CBDs and RAs in the CCs of Malang and Bandung. The quantitative descriptive method utilised spatial analysis, normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) analysis, and connectivity analysis using space syntax. Spatial analysis was used to calculate the GOS patterns, and NDVI analysis was employed to describe changes in the GOS patterns of CBDs and RAs. Furthermore, space syntax analysis was used to analyse the influence of the development of the CBDs and RAs on changes in GOS patterns based on connectivity levels. The study’s results clarified the connectivity calculations using DepthMap and the Google Earth Engine, converting them into easily interpretable metrics for evaluating connectivity and NDVI across two separate areas. The novelty and innovation obtained from this research is a formula that can facilitate seeing more simply and efficiently the correlation between connectivity and the need for GOSs in a city by overlaying these two aspects. The RAs are characterised by low connectivity and elevated NDVI. Conversely, the CBDs exhibited high connectivity but low NDVI.

Small towns serve as crucial carriers for China's new urbanization and the integrated development of urban and rural areas. Investigating their spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors is of great significance for optimizing the regional spatial pattern of small towns. As a typical mountain-sea interaction zone along the eastern coast of China, the distribution of small towns in Fujian Province is profoundly influenced by the spatial pattern of mountains and seas. This study employs kernel density analysis, standard deviation ellipse, nearest neighbor distance method, and geographical detector models to reveal the spatial distribution characteristics of small towns and their influencing factors. The results indicate that the spatial distribution exhibits a remarkable river-to-sea characteristic, with an overall "northeast-southwest" orientation. Three densely populated areas are formed along the coast, while inland areas are primarily distributed along rivers, presenting a "dense along the coast and sparse in the interior" pattern. The highest-density contiguous areas are concentrated in the mountain-sea junction zone (within 50 kilometers from the coastline), reflecting the significant driving effect of mountain-sea synergy. Geographical detector analysis reveals that the spatial distribution is predominantly influenced by population density (q=0.587) and slope (q=0.413), with strong nonlinear and two-factor interactions with elevation, forested area, and road network density. These findings provide a scientific basis for optimizing small town layouts in Fujian and offer methodological and theoretical support for similar mountain-sea regions.

Rapid urbanisation has significantly changed the landscape of urban environments. More specifically, land use in cities has increasingly shifted towards built-up areas for urban infrastructure, housing, transportation, and industry. This has substantially altered the microclimate of cities, with one of the most noticeable impacts being the rise in urban temperatures, which negatively affects the quality of life and health of urban dwellers. As such, there is an urgent need to address these microclimate issues. Planting vegetation is one potential solution. Although urban green open spaces (GOS) are effective at mitigating microclimate impacts, they are often favoured for their aesthetic value rather than their ecological benefits. As such, the present study conducted computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to monitor the urban microclimate in tree-filled and treeless areas, specifically, the air temperature distribution, to evaluate the efficiency of trees in decreasing temperatures. The findings indicate that tree-filled are cooler than treeless areas. More specifically, approximately 24.1% of the tree-filled area recorded temperatures between 28.1-29°C, while 36.5% of the treeless area recorded temperatures between 29.1-30°C. Therefore, trees effectively decreased the temperature by 1.6°C on average. These findings provide valuable insights that stakeholders can use to mitigate the urban heat island (UHI) effect.

Public Safety Zones (PSZs) surrounding airports safeguard airport operations and nearby communities from potential hazards. This study employs Directed Content Analysis to investigate the alignment between spatial planning directives and aviation safety and security standards within Airport PSZs. Focusing on Iswahjudi Military Airport in Indonesia, the research identifies critical components and rules governing aviation safety within PSZs and evaluates their alignment into spatial planning documents. The analysis reveals significant gaps and inconsistencies, highlighting the need for policymakers to revise directives to enhance risk mitigation and clarity. Recommendations include incorporating missing rules, improving consistency between directives and zoning maps, and enhancing stakeholder coordination. This study contributes a comprehensive understanding of PSZ regulation challenges and provides valuable insights for stakeholders aiming to strengthen aviation safety in airport PSZ areas.

This study aims to assess the degree, rate, and direction of Robe Town's spatial expansion to the surrounding rural kebeles (the lowest level of administrative structure in Ethiopia) and its consequent influence on the tenure security of the peri-urban landholders. 202 sampled household heads provided socioeconomic data, while Landsat images from 1987, 2002, and 2020 provided spatial data. The findings revealed that between 1984 and 1994, 1994 and 2007, and 2007 and 2020, the town grew annually by 18.6%, 11.3%, and 9.3%, respectively. The area increased from 5.1 km² in 1984 to 80.2 km² in 2020, and the entire area increased by 40.9%. Over the past 33 years, the built-up area has expanded most rapidly in a southerly direction, at a distance of 9.91 kilometers from the town's mean center. Subsequently, the built-up area grew from 4.38 km² in 1987 to 27.9 km² in 2020. Therefore, in 33 years, around 10.2 km² of farmland had become a built-up area (1987–2020). Such dynamicity of land use conversion consumes the peri-urban agricultural lands. At the peri-urban areas of Robe town 48.9% of the land owners lost around half of their farmland. In turn, this makes peri-urban landowners feel insecure about their tenure due to fear of eviction and expropriation at minimal cost. Therefore, in order to have excess land in the urban land bank and to meet the rising demand for housing, the town administration needs to incorporate peri-urban open spaces into urban jurisdiction with fair compensation.

Walking is an active mode of transport that does not cost money and is healthy. Supporting sustainable transport by transit requires people's willingness to walk as an alternative mode of transport for first/last mile trips. However, unlike in many cities in developed countries, there are various challenges for people to walk in some cities in developing countries. This study aims to explain why people prefer not to walk to access the nearest public transport (PT) stop. The research uses the city of Makassar in Indonesia as case study. Data are obtained from interviews with two types of groups within the similar population i.e., 192 samples of PT users (Bus-based) and 463 samples of non-PT users within the Makassar population. Descriptive statistics and thematic coding were used for data analysis. The results shows that 63.54% of the PT users are not willing to walk to/from the nearest stops to their destination. On the other hand, 48.60% of the non-PT users are not willing to walk to the nearest PT service despite the short distance. The main reasons why the respondents do not want to walk even for a short distance are due to owning/preferring motorized vehicles. Since most of the travel distance greater than 1km among residents with high dependency on private vehicles, walking infrastructure is not the main priority to support the implementation of the transit system.