Towards a theory of the American rural residential land market

Since the late 1960s there has been a notable acceleration in America in the demand for rural residential land within commuting range of urban and suburban employment and service opportunities. American rural residential households do not seem to purchase acreage tracts primarily for their ‘productive’, or resource value, however. Instead, they purchase rural land for its ‘consumptive’ or residential value, as its value is primarily derived from the bundle of residential attributes associated with it. Over time, rural land within commuting range of metropolitan areas becomes underproductive and idled — a situation which precedes urban sprawl. Rural residential development has thus become a focus of debate on the effects and inefficiencies associated with urban sprawl. Yet, not enough is known about the nature of the rural residential land market. It is argued that American rural residential households are different from their suburban and urban counterparts for at least three reasons. First, they are distinguishable for their pursuit of self-sufficiency, self-expression, and the cultural status that a rural residential lifestyle offers. Second, they seek low cost rural jurisdictions in order to afford more housing and land than they could afford in higher cost urban and suburban locations. Third, they value distance from the city center colinearly with externalities such as pollution, crime, overcrowding, and noise associated with central city areas. In the latter sense, American rural residential households value land more highly the farther away it is from the city center, but discount land value the farther away it is from the boundary of urban development. In light of these considerations, this paper (a) reviews the literature describing the motivations of American rural residential households, (b) poses a theory of the American rural residential land market, (c) applies the theory to a case study, and (d) offers implications of the theory to planning efforts aimed at preserving resource land and containing urban sprawl.     

Urban forest cover of the Chicago region and its relation to household density and income

Urban forests and herbaceous open space play a vital role in the environmental and aesthetic health of cities, yet they are rarely identified in land-use inventories of urban areas. To provide information on urban forests and other vegetative land cover in Illinois cities, Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data from June 27, 1988, were classified for the Chicago metropolitan region (9,717 km²). Ten land-cover classes were identified, including two types of forestland (occupying 5.8% of the total area), residential land with trees (14.6%) or without trees (7.8%), cropland (37.5%), two types of grassland (7.7%), urban with impervious surfaces (23.1%), water (1.6%), and miscellaneous vegetation (2.1%). Correlation analyses indicated that household income and household density are strongly related to land covers in the region, particularly those with tree cover and urbanized land. Population changes for 1980–1985 and 1985–2010 (projected) show a pattern of increasing density in the urbanized zone concurrent with continued urban sprawl, primarily into current cropland.     

Urban growth management-the Saudi experience

Saudi Arabia experienced a high rate of urbanization during the period 1970–1986 resulting in accelerated annual growth rates for Saudi cities averaging more than 6.4%. Higher than usual growth rates created demand for the opening up of huge areas to meet housing, commercial, industrial and other land uses. Government's land grant policy and liberal interest free loans resulted in massive expansion of cities and towns all over the country with major cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam having the biggest share. Lack of planning frameworks and weak city institutions could not direct the growth properly leading to sprawl and lop-sided development. This meant rapid extension of road network and utilities with high financial outlays. The slow-down in the economy and ever-increasing demand for infrastructure provision forced the government to initiate growth boundaries to tackle these problems in 1986. The paper discusses the methodology adopted and the process of devising urban limits and evaluates their impact on urban structures of Saudi cities. The paper draws some conclusions in the realization of objectives of the exercise with respect to, (a) control urban sprawl by encouraging infill development where utilities were generally available; (b) reduce cost of provision of infrastructure through better coordination tied to commonly agreed phasing; (c) maintain natural environment around the cities.     

Large urban developments as the new driver for land development in Jeddah

Land development in most Saudi cities including Jeddah is generated by formal land subdivision and informal land development usually referred to as unplanned settlements. Both types of developments contributed to urban sprawl and other urban challenges. Jeddah Municipality attempted to improve land development by encouraging large urban developments. Recently, Jeddah Municipality approved four large urban developments which appear to manifest encouraging implications for urban growth and land development that this paper aims to explore. The paper examines the policy and market contexts that govern land development in general and large urban developments in particular, in order to pave the way to uncover their implications for city growth and land development. The data gathered for this purpose is drawn from published and unpublished reports from relevant authorities. It is found that large urban developments as new mechanisms of land development appear incapable of overcoming key challenges that face city growth and existing land development.     

Evictions and human rights: land disputes in Bogotá, Colombia

Even though many governments in Latin America, including Colombia, have improved the legalization and regularization of peripheral settlements, recognized the right to housing, and acknowledged the United Nations’ position on evictions as violations of fundamental human rights, urban displacement continues. Forced eviction brings devastation to families and neighborhoods and hampers efforts to improve large areas of the city. Over the past twenty-five years in the hills of eastern Bogotá, growing competition for land combined with the competing claims of squatters, semi-legal settlements, title-holders and government agencies has led to frequent and sometimes violent land disputes. These disputes result either directly or indirectly from public and private development in the area. This paper will document the history of displacement in this sector of Bogotá as a case study in order to evaluate current policy guidelines related to forced displacement.¹ There is a wealth of ethnographic data on the effects of evictions, as documented below, and yet this data, typically in the form of Social Impact Assessment, rarely translates into lasting policy guidelines. Economists, geographers, and other social scientists have also documented the negative effects of forced displacement. This study evaluates current policies from a human rights perspective. I argue that human rights can make land policies not only more equitable but also more efficient in Latin America if our current knowledge about displaced communities can be translated into public policy.     

The Pune Slum Census: creating a socio-economic and spatial information base on a GIS for integrated and inclusive city development

Urban planning systems rarely include the poor. Cities are growing and so is the urban population. Pune is a large city in Western Maharashtra. According to the National Census, 2001, the population of the Pune urban agglomeration is 3.5 million and it is (in some estimates) to reach nearly 6 million by 2021.¹ Out of this, the city of Pune has a 2.5 million people living in it. Forty percent and above of the population live in slums. One of the biggest shortfalls of Pune's urban planning is that it still fails to include the poor in mainstream policies. The reason is that the poor are hardly known about, in fact, even government authorities are unaware about how many poor people there are in Pune. This attitude, and the fact that Shelter Associates (SA) work is closely connected with the poor regarding basic services and housing, started the development of a slum database by SA. Finally, the Pune Municipal Corporation asked us to make a complete census of the slum dwellers in the year 2000. That gave rise to a detailed survey of Pune's slum dwellers, to become, amongst other things, the first ever spatial and socio-economic census processed and analysed on a geographical information system (GIS). The Pune Slum Census has built upon this experience and expanded the communities’ information base, and has created a methodology which the city can use to work on detailed urban planning using a GIS and with the slum database as the base. This article focuses on the Pune Slum Census in progress.     

Detecting the scales at which birds respond to structure in urban landscapes

Little empirical information exists about how birds respond to urban landscape structure across multiple scales. We explored how the variation in percent tree canopy cover, at four different scales, affected the abundance of bird species across various urban sites in North America. Bird counts were derived from previous studies, and tree patches were measured from aerial photographs that represented areas of 0.2 km², 1.5 km², 25.0 km², and 85.0 km². At each of the four areas, we conducted regressions between bird counts and percent cover of various tree patch sizes. From these analyses, we determined the area (called the best prediction area—BPA) and the patch size (called the best patch size—BPS) that accounted for a significant amount of the variation in bird counts, beyond the variation accounted for by these parameters measured at other scales. BPA and BPS were calculated primarily to take into account the high degree of collinearity that existed among the amount of tree canopy cover measured across the four scales.We calculated BPA and BPS values for a variety of bird species and ascertained whether larger species had relatively larger BPS and BPA values. In the spring, middle-sized to large birds (16.6 g–184.0 g) had relatively larger BPS values than did smaller birds (3.2 g–16.5 g), but in the summer, the largest birds (61.7 g–576.0 g) had small BPS values. Spring BPA values showed a similar result but summer BPA values did not. A majority of birds of all sizes had summer BPA values at the finer scales of 0.2 km² and 1.5 km². Overall, body size was an approximate predictor of the area and patch size at which a species responds to trees in a landscape, but many exceptions did occur. These exceptions could be related to a variety of factors, one being the difficulty in relating human-biased measurements to avian measurements of a landscape. The method described in this study will help researchers design multi-scale studies to address the effect of landscape pattern on different animal species.     

城市扩容中拆迁安置小区公共管理模式研究——以常德市公寓楼安置模式为例

征地拆迁是城市扩容面临的重要课题。常德市采取的公寓楼安置模式在城市扩容和保护耕地红线之间找到了平衡点,创新了拆迁安置模式,达到了城市发展集约节约用地的目的。公寓楼社区公共管理模式不仅关系到征地拆迁工作本身的成效,更关系到安置户的民生福祉和城市的科学发展。要直面公寓楼社区公共管理的突出问题,明确主要任务,创新理念,构建"政府主导+多方参与+业主选择+社区整合"的公共管理格局,按照统筹推进、健全体制、整合资源、责任考评的路径,使公寓楼社区公共管理成为推进安置居民城市融入的重要推手。     

Alien plant species do have a clear preference for different land uses within urban environments

Since neophytes can become invasive in the future, untangling their ecological preferences is of paramount importance, especially in urban areas where they represent a substantial proportion of the local flora. Studies exploring alien species assemblages in urban environments are however scarce. This study aims to unravel alien plant species preferences for five urban land uses (densely built-up areas, open built-up areas, industrial areas, broadleaved urban forests, and agricultural areas and small landscape elements). We took the city of Brussels as a model, in which we recorded all vascular species growing spontaneously in grid cells of 1 km². We tested two different ways of classifying the 1-km² cells: (1) We simply associated each cell with its dominant land cover; (2) We used a fuzzy approach for which the degree of association of a given cell to a given land cover depended on the proportion of that land cover within the cell. For both classification methods, we calculated the indicator species of the resulting land cover types based on alien species only. The crisp and fuzzy classifications identified 33 and 49 species, respectively, with a clear preference for some urban land use types (from a total of 129 alien plant species analyzed). Results showed that urban land use types having apparently similar environmental conditions can actually harbor different neophyte assemblages. Fine-tuning the categorization of urban environments in future ecological studies is therefore important for understanding spatial patterns of alien species occurrence.     

Relationship of bird richness,abundance and assemblage to the built environment in a small island tropical urban setting: a Suva,Fiji case study

There have been few studies investigating the relationship between the built environment and the status of bird distributions in small island tropical urban areas. We present a study investigating the relationship between bird species richness, abundance and assemblage to the built environment in Suva, Fiji. Field surveys were taken at 54 randomly selected sites throughout the city, stratified by three building density classes and the central business district (CBD). At each site bird counts were recorded, along with environmental data such as average building height, within a 150 m radius. Land-use information was obtained from screen digitized high-resolution satellite imagery within the same radius. Distance to undeveloped patches of land within the urban area was calculated using a GIS. Analysis of the effects of the built environment was carried out for all species, and for exotic and native species separately. Abundance of exotics was significantly higher in the central business district (CBD) than all other urban density classes, and significantly higher than natives in all other density classes. We found a negative relationship between native species richness and distance to undeveloped patches, but no relationship for exotics. Species assemblage was not related to urban density class. We conclude that the status of native and exotic bird species in Suva is similar to what has been found in urban areas in temperate climates, and conservation efforts should focus on minimizing the amount of heavily urbanized “core areas” and protecting undeveloped areas of forested vegetation to improve bird biodiversity in small tropical islands cities.

     

A GIS for environmental assessment of air pollution impacts on urban clusters and natural landscape at Rosetta City and region,Egypt

An air pollution problem is taking place in the Rosetta region resulting from the brick industry. Polluting point sources cause plumes that disperse by the prevailing wind, covering urban areas of Rosetta City and surrounding landscape of agricultural fields. A model for pollutants plumes was designed through a GIS to calculate the dispersal of total suspended particulate (TSP) loads over the landscape and to estimate its spatial distribution and to analyze its relationship with other geographic land use attributes.TSP pollutant concentrations starting from 100 g/m³ cover more than 34 km² of sensitive land cover through all the year. A concentration level of 100 g/m³ affects about 93% of the sensitive palm trees cultivation, 47% of cultivated land, and 92% of urban areas. TSP concentration level of 200 g/m³ was found to be affecting the same percentage of built-up urban areas.Concentration levels exceed the permissible limits mentioned in the Egyptian law of environment (90 g/m³). The situation is hygienically deteriorated, and large areas of agricultural land are strongly affected or subjected to future impact. Recommended measures are mostly involved with transferring this industrial activity to a safer location at the southwest of the city. The study proposes that brick mills sites on the river Nile bank be utilized for urban development projects and for the promotion of tourism.     

Effects of urban structure on plant species richness in a large European city

Urban areas have developed under anthropogenic impact and hence feature strongly altered environmental conditions that influence today’s plant species distribution. Generally, urban areas are rich in plant species, but on smaller scales richness can vary considerably. Our study aim is to identify areas of high species richness and to assess richness distribution patterns in the city of Hamburg by analyzing a floristic mapping dataset on the scale of 1 km². Differences in plant species richness were analyzed between three urbanization zones. With multiple regression analyses, we tested effects of urban structure, habitat, and environmental conditions on the distribution of species richness measures. Total species richness per 1 km² was 274?±?60 on average and differed only slightly between the urbanization zones. It increased with habitat diversity and decreased with Ellenberg indicator values (EIV) for nutrients (multiple R²?=?0.31). Proportion of non-native species increased with mean annual temperature and decreased with EIVs for moisture (multiple R²?=?0.72), while proportion of endangered species increased with EIVs for moisture and decreased with EIVs for nutrients (multiple R²?=?0.66). Proportion of thermophilic species (multiple R²?=?0.58) could be explained by mean annual temperature. The emerging patterns probably differ from those in other cities due to the central port harboring a particular flora. Besides the expected high proportions of non-native species, high proportions of endangered species were also found in this area. Our results contribute to identifying drivers of biodiversity in cities and can thus be used to develop measures for the conservation of urban biodiversity.     

Changes in chemical and physical propertiesof stream water across an urban-rural gradient in western Georgia

The Middle Chattahoochee River Watershed in western Georgia is undergoing rapid urban development. Consequently, Georgia’s water quality is threatened by extensive development as well as other land uses such as grazing. Maintenance of stream water quality, as land development occurs, is critical for the protection of drinking water, biotic integrity, and stream morphology. A two-phase, watershed-scale study was established to develop relationships among land use and water quality within western Georgia. During phase 1 (year one), physio-chemical, biological and morphological measurements were taken within 16 sub-watersheds, ranging in size from 500–2500 ha. Nutrient and fecal coliform concentrations within watersheds with impervious surface > 5% often exceeded those in other watersheds during both baseflow and storm flow. Also, fecal coliform bacteria in more urbanized areas often exceeded the US EPA’s standard for recreational waters. During the second phase of the study, models will be tested and calibrated based on newly chosen watersheds.     

Bridging the gap between ecological research and land use policy: The North Sonoran Collaboration

A key factor in bridging the gap between ecological research and public land use policy is translating information from the language of research into the language of public policy making. Creating effective translations of research is often beyond the skills of urban planners and environmental researchers individually, and thus collaboration between the two is needed. Examples of such translation and partnerships can be found in the projects of an interdisciplinary group coined the North Sonoran Collaborative. This group consists of Phoenix, AZ, USA city staff, Arizona State University faculty, graduate students, and staff, and people from other local private companies and government agencies. The group, through its collaboration, has sponsored a series of environmental research efforts and translated those into successful land use planning activities and policies. The focus of the collaboration is the northern, largely undeveloped portion of the city of Phoenix, Arizona. This group has pursued three principles: desert ecosystems should be protected, a diversity of development should be pursued, and a sense of community should be created in new developments. This paper discusses this unique approach to planning and how it has proven effective in responding to the local communities needs quickly.     

Cairo's Zabaleen garbage recyclers: Multi-nationals’ takeover and state relocation plans

The paper investigates recently launched plans to privatize solid-waste management in Cairo, focusing on its adverse effects on the sustainability of the associated recycling economy and urban settlement system of the garbage collectors communities (Zabaleen) located within the Muqattam mountain area which is adjacent to Cairo's old historical quarters. According to official development strategy, the privatization of solid-waste services is regarded as fundamental to overall government plans for Old Cairo's rehabilitation. The objectives of the rehabilitation programme tend to favour tourist-orientated projects, whilst ignoring the local population's interests through the removal of informal Zabaleen settlements in Muqattam mountain, and through the clearing of the Eastern Cemetery of its tomb dwellers and shanty town buildings.The study examines the consequences of recent official intervention in the sustainability of the Muqattam Zabaleen settlement in terms of physical and demographic growth, infrastructural development, and changes in land tenure system. The paper takes into consideration early 1980s programmes funded by the World Bank to improve the Zabaleens’ environment and to upgrade their settlement. These aimed to maintain the existing informal settlement pattern and to develop urban service delivery systems.The empirical study adopts a qualitative analysis employing ethnographic techniques of informal discussions with secondary stakeholder agencies (local municipality, planners, NGOs activists). A field survey of the primary stakeholder group (garbage collectors) involved in-depth interviews with householders and with community leaders in the Zabaleen settlement. The analysis explores narratives expressed by members of the Zabaleen community in response to the threat of enforced eviction resulting from potential state-controlled gentrification programmes for urban development and land speculation in the area.The findings emphasize the significance of local participatory mechanisms in restructuring solid-waste collection and in developing the recycling industry whilst putting vacant and under-used areas into productive use. These mechanisms would support the management of built environment and local resources and would build local capacity through developing new channels for co-operation and partnership between the garbage collectors’ association (Gamm’yya) and grass roots organizations together with the local authorities and multi-national companies. In order to promote sustainable livelihoods and better opportunities for the urban poor the study concludes that there is a need to draw on the sustainable flow of local resources within low-income garbage collectors groups, whilst seeking new means of supporting land acquisition and its development for improved housing standards, basic services and environmental quality.     

Moral Panics and Urban Growth Machines: Official Reactions to Graffiti in New York City, 1990–2005

This paper analyzes the official response to graffiti writing in New York City throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century. Drawing from a variety of documents, such as newspaper articles, political press releases, internal memos and government reports, I show that the city’s reaction to graffiti constitutes a moral panic and that the significance of this response can be discerned when interpreted in the context of theoretical insights developed by urban sociologists. On this basis, I argue that moral panics, or at least a sub-set of panics, may be central to negotiating the social conflict that accompanies the ways in which (urban) space will be put to use.     

Coyote,fox, and bobcat response to anthropogenic and natural landscape features in a small urban area

Increasing urbanization across the southeastern United States presents unique challenges for wildlife; however certain species have learned to adapt and thrive in these environments. Coyotes (Canis latrans), bobcats (Lynx rufus), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) are four common medium-sized carnivores that have become closely associated with urban areas. The goal for this study was to determine how urban landscape features influence density and occurrence of these species in a small urban area and to evaluate if any effects were similar to those observed in larger urban areas. We conducted two eight-week camera surveys in the city of Nacogdoches, Texas (pop. 32,699) and immediate surrounding areas in summer and fall 2013. We evaluated single-season spatially explicit capture-recapture and occupancy models to estimate density, and occurrence, respectively, based on anthropogenic and natural features around each camera site. Coyotes (fall: 1.38 coyotes/km²) and bobcats (fall: 0.64 coyotes/km²) were associated with areas of green space, but their response to large and small green spaces changed seasonally. Conversely, red foxes (fall: 2.53 red foxes/km²) were more likely to occur near developed areas and were less detectable in areas with greater probability of coyote presence in fall only. In summer, gray foxes (fall: 0.05 gray foxes/km²) were more likely to occur in areas with lower building density and closer to buildings. This study indicates coyotes, foxes and bobcats respond to small-scale urbanization in a similar manner as large-scale urbanization.     

Urban growth patterns and growth management boundaries in the Central Puget Sound, Washington, 1986–2007

Many regions of the globe are experiencing rapid urban growth, the location and intensity of which can have negative effects on ecological and social systems. In some locales, planners and policy makers have used urban growth boundaries to direct the location and intensity of development; however the empirical evidence for the efficacy of such policies is mixed. Monitoring the location of urban growth is an essential first step in understanding how the system has changed over time. In addition, if regulations purporting to direct urban growth to specific locales are present, it is important to evaluate if the desired pattern (or change in pattern) has been observed. In this paper, we document land cover and change across six dates (1986, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2002, and 2007) for six counties in the Central Puget Sound, Washington State, USA. We explore patterns of change by three different spatial partitions (the region, each county, 2000 U.S. Census Tracks), and with respect to urban growth boundaries implemented in the late 1990’s as part of the state’s Growth Management Act. Urban land cover increased from 8 to 19% of the study area between 1986 and 2007, while lowland deciduous and mixed forests decreased from 21 to 13% and grass and agriculture decreased from 11 to 8%. Land in urban classes outside of the urban growth boundaries increased more rapidly (by area and percentage of new urban land cover) than land within the urban growth boundaries, suggesting that the intended effect of the Growth Management Act to direct growth to within the urban growth boundaries may not have been accomplished by 2007. Urban sprawl, as estimated by the area of land per capita, increased overall within the region, with the more rural counties within commuting distance to cities having the highest rate of increase observed. Land cover data is increasingly available and can be used to rapidly evaluate urban development patterns over large areas. Such data are important inputs for policy makers, urban planners, and modelers alike to manage and plan for future population, land use, and land cover changes.     

Colonization and habitat selection of a declining farmland species in urban areas

Despite the accelerating global urbanization and its associated implications for wildlife and humans, we know little about the biology of urban ecosystems. Here, we investigated colonization and habitat selection of the European hare (Lepus europaeus), a declining farmland species, in urban areas in Denmark, using a combination of citizen science data and transect counts. Further, we estimated the population density of urban hares in Aarhus, Denmark’s second largest city. Our results provide the first evidence that hares have established populations in urban areas, potentially in response to decreasing habitat quality in rural areas due to agricultural intensification. The hare density in Aarhus was ca. 8 hares per km², which is comparable to or slightly higher than hare abundance estimates from various pastural areas in Europe, suggesting that urban areas provide suitable habitat for hares. Hare habitat selection was generally associated with areas consisting of large lawns, such as high buildings and parks, which potentially provide high-quality forage throughout the year. Considering the increasing expansion of urban areas and deteriorating habitat quality of agricultural areas, urban planning that incorporates habitat requirements for wildlife could help to support urban animal populations, especially for species of conservation concern.

     

Urban heritage endangerment at the interface of future cities and past heritage: A spatial vulnerability assessment

Uncontrolled urban growth has been an increasing concern in many regions throughout the world. Generated by a natural tendency of population growth in relation to unsustainable land use, city sprawl has led to complex spatial developments that are creating both benefits to, and challenges for decision makers. A major problem inherent in the uncontrolled growth of cities is the threat to the fragile cultural and ecological heritage, which may escalate to permanent and irreversible damage as a result of factors such as environmental depletion and landscape decay. Using modern geosciences and spatial information technologies as predictive tools to analyse and forecast urban growth, a regional spatial decision system may be useful in order to provide seemly and timely information on the risk of overburdening the carrying capacity regarding the historico-cultural heritage at local and regional levels.The present paper develops a predictive toolkit for urban heritage in relation to urban cultural endangerment. This common problem is shared through many regions of the world and is increasingly jeopardizing fragile archaeological landscape due to urban pressure. In this sense, and to forecast an example of this common pressure, the Algarve is exemplified as a laboratory for testing this novel methodology, relying on a combined analysis of urban growth potential and threats to the abundant presence of archaeological heritage in the area. Our appro ach supports the paradigm of city growth in the context of a common agenda emerging from the Valetta Treaty, in which preserving the archaeological heritage is recognized as a key element for sustainable development. The study provides novel empirical results from the above mentioned modelling approach, with important lessons for the developing world. This paper proposes as such, an integrative spatial analysis methodology on the issue of historico-cultural endangerment, which is a new approach to comparative spatial analysis for decision making on urban heritage endangerment at the regional scale. Later, the discussion extends to a more conceptual level of urban planning by considering the questions: Is urban sprawl influencing the way we perceive cities? If so, are there positive advantages in the paradigm of urban growth and urban sprawl which might help us to protect past heritage while ensuring sustainable and modern cities?