Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy最新文献

This work presents an operational model to identify potential areas for new railway lines in Austria, utilizing a topographic and passenger potential and considering the different inclination requirements for regional and main railway lines. By applying a GIS digital terrain model based on a 500 m squared reference system, we identified 61,497 cells suitable for new regional lines and 11,347 cells suitable for main railway lines. These cells show a variety of spatial potential classes. Out of Austria’s 83,883 km² total surface, all these identified cells sum up to an area of 15,374 km² for new regional lines and 2,837 km² for new main lines. We validate the identified cells with existing and abandoned railway alignments. The model shows a fit of 80%. Furthermore, we put the results into perspective by comparing individual cell potentials with their public transport quality levels of existing supplied services, and we apply a five-scenario sensitivity analysis to identify the impact of the model’s foundations. After debating the model’s particularities and their impact on planning procedures, we conclude that our model is more comprehensive than today’s strategic rail transport planning procedures, primarily based on political desires or selected expert suggestions.

Urban growth changes spatial uses over time due to different dynamics. These processes cause many physical, environmental, and socioeconomic problems, such as climate change, pollution, and population-related events. Therefore, it is essential to predict future urban expansion to produce effective policies in sustainable urban planning and make long-term plans. Many models, such as dynamic, statistical, and Cellular Automata and Markov Chain (CA-MC) models, are used in geographic information system (GIS) environments to meet the high-performance requirements of land use modeling. This study estimated the growth of settled areas in Eskişehir city center using models developed using two different methods. In this context, settled areas in the city center were examined within the scope of 1990–2018, and the growth areas of settled areas in 2046 were predicted using the CA-Markov method in Model 1: Quantum GIS (QGIS) MOLUSCE plugin and Model 2: IDRISI Selva. While settled areas are continuously increasing, other urban areas are decreasing. Model 1 predicts an increase of 1195 ha in settled areas by 2046, while Model 2 predicts an increase of 45,022 ha. At the same time, it is concluded that settled areas will grow in a central location in Model 1, while they will spread in an east-west extension in Model 2. The study results show that QGIS-based modeling predicts more limited spatial growth than IDRISI Selva. The research interprets growth in terms of the staging of urban services, the population size of neighboring cities, distances, and income levels based on the internal and external dynamics of the city.

Increasingly frequent land evolution in China seriously impacts the sustainable supply of ecosystem services as well as the economy's steady and sustainable growth. Driven by physiographic, socioeconomic, and transportation accessibility factors, China has experienced significant mutual changes among gra ssland, forest, unused land, and cropland over the past 20 years, particularly before 2010. Projections for 2030 and 2060 indicate an increase in cropland, accompanied by a degradation of forest and grassland. Future land changes will vary under different policy scenarios. Specifically, the source of urbanization land will shift from cropland to grassland if cropland is protected, whereas cropland areas will continue to decrease under the environmental preservation scenario. In the future, China should maintain agricultural policies based on cropland protection and the ecological restoration policy that places an emphasis on natural restoration. These findings provide a reference for achieving sustainable land development.

Fengshui is extensively employed in China to determine the best locations for ancient buildings, villages, palaces, and tombs. Exploring the science of Fengshui is vital in improving the quality of urban planning, site selection, and human environment. We take the “Form School” Fengshui as the research object, take the Location Selection of Hakka Villages as an Example, and propose a comprehensive site selection model (AHP-GIS model) by combining expert consultation, hierarchical analysis, spatial superposition analysis and kernel density analysis. According to the geographical single-factor evaluation, AHP-GIS evaluation, and the distribution results of traditional Hakka villages in Ganzhou, China, a comparative analysis is conducted to verify the scientific nature of Fengshui. We also evaluate the Science of Fengshui from the micro perspective by the example of the site selection of Bailu Ancient Village. The results show that the geographic single-factor evaluation results and AHP-GIS comprehensive evaluation results coincide with the spatial distribution of Hakka traditional villages. The Fengshui has played an important guiding role in the site selection of Hakka traditional villages in Ganzhou. Its basic principles contain rich knowledge of geography, ecology, psychology and sociology, which has important reference value for guiding urban planning and construction and improving human settlements.

A significant part of the rural problems is related to infrastructure issues, which can cause economic, cultural, and social problems in villages or rural human settlements. Various methods for evaluating infrastructure issues are currently used traditionally in many countries. However, due to the rapid growth and range of infrastructure problems in the villages, as well as the need for immediate and optimal handling of the problems in the villages, the need for a tool to record and monitor the problems as best as possible is felt more than ever. Today, with the advancement of Geographic Information System (GIS) and web-based tools, a quick and easy platform for participatory and collaborative spatial problem solving has been provided at any place, at any time, and with any means. The current research involves the evaluation of infrastructures in rural human settlements using the Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) tool. The research consists of three main stages: (1) the needs assessment of the PPGIS to solve the infrastructure problems of rural human settlements, (2) the design of the system based on the needs assessment, and (3) the evaluation of the usability of the designed system in the villages. To achieve the above goals, first, a system needs assessment questionnaire was designed and distributed in the villages of Shahriar County, Tehran province, Iran. Then, based on the needs assessment results, a PPGIS was designed and implemented in the villages of Eskman, Dehshad Bala, Razi Abad Bayan, and Asil Abad. The people of these villages were invited to report their problems in a location-based manner through the PPGIS tool and finally to complete the questionnaire related to the system’s usability. The results show that 24% reported that water and sewage problems were the highest infrastructure problems. Regarding using the system’s features, 92% of the participants used point features to report problems, and 20% uploaded their problem reports along with a photo. The results of the evaluation of the system’s usability show that despite the willingness of the villagers to use the system, the need for training in the use of maps and geographic information tools, simplifying and improving the user interface, creating a culture in the field of using geographic information systems to participate in reporting problems is felt.

Some studies speak of the financial and economic benefits of urban sprawl indicating that there is little evidence that compact cities outside of high-income countries are more productive. Considering the contradictions, this research seeks to identify and analyze the financial factors driving or impeding urban sprawl in one of the Iranian large cities, Qom City. The results show that urban sprawl is a costly phenomenon for the municipality in the long term. However, urban officials have some incentives to encourage urban sprawl. The most significant advantage of urban sprawl is the increase in income from the sale of municipal (immovable) property. More than 50% of the municipality's revenues are provided from land and related developments and this increases the incentive to expand the city and the lack of control over the urban sprawl. Urban sprawl also imposes financial costs on the municipality, and the most significant financial obstacle is the increase in the costs of urban transportation and traffic improvement(26% on average up to 55% in some years). Iranian municipalities mainly rely on unsustainable revenue sources, and a large part of their revenues are provided through urban sprawl and its related revenue sources, threatening peripheral environments more than ever.

In temperate continental climate zones with hot summers and significant diurnal temperature differences, the park green space construction is an effective way to increase park visitor comfort and mitigate urban daytime high temperatures. In this experiment, 42 plant configurationss were selected and classified into 12 configuration typesbased on three indicators of the underlying surface, tree species, and canopy density in 6 parks in Yinchuan, Wuzhong and Zhongwei cities of Ningxia, China, in the summer of 2019 and 2020.The air temperature of the sample plots (8:00 ~ 18:00) was measured with a Kestrel NK5500 weather station, and the daily air temperature variation pattern of each typical plant configuration was analyzed, the cooling effect of the 12 configuration types and its controlling factors were revealed based on the air temperature difference (park air temperature—weather station air temperature). There was a significant negative correlation between canopy density and the cooling effect of green lands(P < 0.05,the same below), but the underlying surface and tree species configuration of the green lands could not contributed to the cooling effect. The park green lands with ≥ 40% canopy density had a significant cooling effect compared with hard-paved park areas during the daytime (8:00–18:00). The average daytime temperature of green areas with 40–60% canopy density decreased by about 0.5 °C, and those with > 60% canopy density decreased by 1.1–1.5 °C. In the daytime, the cooling effect of green areas was stable from 8:00 to 12:00 and from 12:00 to 15:00, when the degree of canopy density reached 50% and 40% and above, respectively. And from 15:00 to 18:00, all plant configurations (including grass) had a cooling effect, and the overall cooling effect increased with the process of canopy density.This study provides guidance for the risk management of summer high temperatures and the planning of public green space construction based on cooling effects in cities of continental climate zones.

The spatial relationship between violent crime and alcohol outlets is well documented. Yet, it is unclear whether on- or off-premises alcohol outlets have greater effects on violent crime and whether this varies by interpersonal crimes and off-premises outlet subtype. This study addresses this gap by using both Routine Activities and Social Disorganization Theories. Using census block groups (n = 1,126) in the Bronx, NY, spatial access methods were used to measure violent crimes from 2018 to 2020 (n = 28,587) and alcohol outlets from 2020 (n = 1,984). Social disorganization measures consisting of various socioeconomic factors and accessibility factors were included. Five models were estimated using a Spatial Lag regression model. A positive direct, indirect, and total effect was observed for liquor, grocery, and drug stores on total violent crime exposure, but on-premise alcohol outlets was not related. Specific types of off-premises alcohol outlets were associated with various violent crimes, with liquor and grocery stores consistently related across all models. On-premises alcohol outlets were not associated with violent crime with the exception of assaults.

Compared to developed regions, the development of industrial parks in underdeveloped areas has certain particularities. However, existing researches do not give a clear answer to the relationship between industrial parks and county economic development in underdeveloped areas. This article analyzes the relationship, heterogeneous effects, and pathways between industrial park construction and county-level economic growth in Gansu Province based on the DID model. It was found that industrial parks have a positive promoting effect on underdeveloped areas. And as time goes on, the promotion effect becomes more apparent. Secondly, the development of industrial parks in underdeveloped areas is still in its early stages and their scale is generally small, which means that industrial parks have a lower impact on the economies of counties with higher economic scales. At the same time, compared to provincial-level parks, national level parks have a lower impact on the economies of major counties. However, for developed regions, the development of industrial parks is relatively mature, and their impact on economic growth has shown a positive relationship consistent with the economic scale. In addition, industrial parks in underdeveloped areas mainly act on county-level economic development through capital agglomeration, but the agglomeration effect of human resources is not significant. Industrial parks in developed regions play a significant role in gathering capital, human resources, and other aspects.

Globally, road crashes impose massive burdens, and understanding the complex factors influencing crash patterns requires advanced analytical methods. This study reviews 20 years of published literature on geospatial crash analysis to chart key innovations shaping this critical field. The analysis reveals a progression from fundamental mapping approaches towards integrative predictive modelling and dynamic risk monitoring leveraging diverse data sources. While crash records and road networks remain core datasets, aerial imagery, social media, weather, infrastructure attributes, and traffic data have become increasingly incorporated. Techniques have evolved from hotspot analysis to sophisticated machine learning algorithms automating crash prediction and factor analysis. Research objectives now emphasize not just pattern identification but predictive risk modelling, and there is an increased focus on prevention through improved emergency response, infrastructure enhancements, and targeted countermeasures. Interactive 3D visualizations and virtual reality applications are enhancing geospatial communication and decision-making. As geospatial innovations and data integration accelerate, this continuously advancing field holds tremendous potential to guide proactive evidence-based road safety planning. However, validating analysis approaches and assessing geographic transferability remain critical research needs. By synthesizing two decades of developments, this study provides key perspectives to harness geospatial technology innovations and unlock new frontiers in data-driven road crash prevention worldwide.