Pub Date : 2023-10-31DOI: 10.1007/s43995-023-00034-0
Hamza El Alaoui, Ahmed Bazzi, Hamza El Hafdaoui, Ahmed Khallaayoun, Rachid Lghoul
Abstract This study provides a comprehensive environmental impact assessment of different train types in Morocco, including passenger-only, goods-only, and mixed-use services. Through a comparative evaluation based on climate change, respiratory effects, and acidification/eutrophication, we find that passenger-only trains exhibit the highest environmental impact across all categories due to their high energy consumption and emissions. Conversely, goods-only and mixed-use trains display markedly lower environmental impacts, emphasizing the role of service type and operational efficiency in mitigating environmental harm. Our findings underscore the need for strategic optimization in train services, particularly passenger-only operations, and open the door for comprehensive economic and environmental assessments of alternative train technologies and fuel mixtures in the context of Morocco’s decarbonization plans.
{"title":"Sustainable railways for Morocco: a comprehensive energy and environmental assessment","authors":"Hamza El Alaoui, Ahmed Bazzi, Hamza El Hafdaoui, Ahmed Khallaayoun, Rachid Lghoul","doi":"10.1007/s43995-023-00034-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s43995-023-00034-0","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study provides a comprehensive environmental impact assessment of different train types in Morocco, including passenger-only, goods-only, and mixed-use services. Through a comparative evaluation based on climate change, respiratory effects, and acidification/eutrophication, we find that passenger-only trains exhibit the highest environmental impact across all categories due to their high energy consumption and emissions. Conversely, goods-only and mixed-use trains display markedly lower environmental impacts, emphasizing the role of service type and operational efficiency in mitigating environmental harm. Our findings underscore the need for strategic optimization in train services, particularly passenger-only operations, and open the door for comprehensive economic and environmental assessments of alternative train technologies and fuel mixtures in the context of Morocco’s decarbonization plans.","PeriodicalId":497682,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Engineering and Architecture","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135872536","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-31DOI: 10.1007/s43995-023-00033-1
Rawan Mahfoudh, Noura Ghabra
Abstract Saudi Arabia is taking significant steps to improve urban lifestyles by implementing the Quality-of-Life Program, which focuses on increasing public participation in physical activities. Studies have shown a link between physical inactivity and poor health. A large percentage of the adult population does not meet the World Health Organization's physical activity recommendations due to many reasons, including the lack of active design strategies in the built environment. This research aims to measure the extent to which active design strategies are applied in university buildings at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia and suggest recommendations for university educational buildings in KSA. A comparative analysis of systems for evaluating the application of active design strategies was conducted, and The Movement Checklist in WELL Building Standard was used as a tool to evaluate educational buildings. Additionally, a questionnaire and interviews were used to identify the awareness of the study sample of the importance of physical activity and to discover appropriate active design strategies for them. The findings of this research will help to inform the development of active design strategies that can be applied to university educational buildings in KSA and will contribute to achieving the objectives of the National Transformation Program's Quality-of-Life Program.
{"title":"Study of active design strategies to enhance physical activity in university educational buildings: a case study at King Abdulaziz University","authors":"Rawan Mahfoudh, Noura Ghabra","doi":"10.1007/s43995-023-00033-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s43995-023-00033-1","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Saudi Arabia is taking significant steps to improve urban lifestyles by implementing the Quality-of-Life Program, which focuses on increasing public participation in physical activities. Studies have shown a link between physical inactivity and poor health. A large percentage of the adult population does not meet the World Health Organization's physical activity recommendations due to many reasons, including the lack of active design strategies in the built environment. This research aims to measure the extent to which active design strategies are applied in university buildings at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia and suggest recommendations for university educational buildings in KSA. A comparative analysis of systems for evaluating the application of active design strategies was conducted, and The Movement Checklist in WELL Building Standard was used as a tool to evaluate educational buildings. Additionally, a questionnaire and interviews were used to identify the awareness of the study sample of the importance of physical activity and to discover appropriate active design strategies for them. The findings of this research will help to inform the development of active design strategies that can be applied to university educational buildings in KSA and will contribute to achieving the objectives of the National Transformation Program's Quality-of-Life Program.","PeriodicalId":497682,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Engineering and Architecture","volume":"16 5","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135863167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-20DOI: 10.1007/s43995-023-00031-3
Mamatha P. Raj, Dakshayini R. Patil
Abstract This paper investigates the public space architecture in urban centers of contemporary cities. Through time cities evolve with a certain traditional profile either spontaneous or planned; correspondingly, urban spaces emerge responding to the current developments, community aspirations, and architectural influences of the era. The study adopts a research methodology of triangulation involving review of theoretical derivatives, legislations for urban aesthetics, and conducting visual surveys of urbanscapes. Three fundamental theories are explored-‘Semiotics/Semiology’ by Saussure (1916) and Peirce (1902), ‘Duck and decorated shed’ by Robert Venturi (1972) and ‘Urban semiotics’ by Kevin Lynch (1960). The premise is investigated with the case of Bangalore (also, Bengaluru ) in India; a city which has a rich historical profile while also being one of the progressive cities, resulting in transitions in its urbanscapes profile and existence of two distinct city cores, old and the new. This analysis is ensued by adopting comparative analysis of façades investigated in these two Central Business Districts, with a ‘Façade grid’ assessment methodology leading to interpretation of varying semiotics in both scenarios. The surveys conducted reveal an interesting semiology in the older and newer nodes reflecting intense objectives of commercial architecture and leads to formulation of a strategic proposal framework for façade architecture and management to reconnect to the use-experiential factors in urban centers.
{"title":"Semiotics in architecture of public spaces: contemporary city-centers; case of Bangalore, India","authors":"Mamatha P. Raj, Dakshayini R. Patil","doi":"10.1007/s43995-023-00031-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s43995-023-00031-3","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper investigates the public space architecture in urban centers of contemporary cities. Through time cities evolve with a certain traditional profile either spontaneous or planned; correspondingly, urban spaces emerge responding to the current developments, community aspirations, and architectural influences of the era. The study adopts a research methodology of triangulation involving review of theoretical derivatives, legislations for urban aesthetics, and conducting visual surveys of urbanscapes. Three fundamental theories are explored-‘Semiotics/Semiology’ by Saussure (1916) and Peirce (1902), ‘Duck and decorated shed’ by Robert Venturi (1972) and ‘Urban semiotics’ by Kevin Lynch (1960). The premise is investigated with the case of Bangalore (also, Bengaluru ) in India; a city which has a rich historical profile while also being one of the progressive cities, resulting in transitions in its urbanscapes profile and existence of two distinct city cores, old and the new. This analysis is ensued by adopting comparative analysis of façades investigated in these two Central Business Districts, with a ‘Façade grid’ assessment methodology leading to interpretation of varying semiotics in both scenarios. The surveys conducted reveal an interesting semiology in the older and newer nodes reflecting intense objectives of commercial architecture and leads to formulation of a strategic proposal framework for façade architecture and management to reconnect to the use-experiential factors in urban centers.","PeriodicalId":497682,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Engineering and Architecture","volume":"86 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135569282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-15DOI: 10.1007/s43995-023-00030-4
Ayman Imam
Abstract The increase of land surface temperature (LST) because of the urban growth and spatial expansion specially in developing country have shown many negative impacts on the health and quality of life of people, nowadays some cities experience much warmer temperatures than nearby rural areas, causes what is known as the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. This study investigates alterations in vegetation and land surface temperature over space and time due to the Green Riyadh Project, employing remote sensing techniques. Multi-temporal Landsat images of the study area from 2018 and 2022, were processed in order to derive The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and LST are being considered. Change detection methods were used to indicate the changes between the two time periods. Based on the results of this study, NDVI values show that the vegetated areas in Riyadh have not increased between (2018 and 2022). While the LST values show that the total area of UHIs has increased between (2018 and 2022). The change detection in vegetation indicates that there was a decrease in vegetation, mostly in urban areas. Where the change detection of surface temperature indicates huge areas where temperature has increased, mostly in the rural are-as, leaving few areas where the temperature has decreased. This means that the present amount of vegetation has still not made an impact in terms of decreasing the LST. Therefore, there is a need for more effort to be made in increasing the green areas within the urban environment of Riyadh.
{"title":"Examining the impact of Green Riyadh Project on alleviating urban heat island effects","authors":"Ayman Imam","doi":"10.1007/s43995-023-00030-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s43995-023-00030-4","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The increase of land surface temperature (LST) because of the urban growth and spatial expansion specially in developing country have shown many negative impacts on the health and quality of life of people, nowadays some cities experience much warmer temperatures than nearby rural areas, causes what is known as the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. This study investigates alterations in vegetation and land surface temperature over space and time due to the Green Riyadh Project, employing remote sensing techniques. Multi-temporal Landsat images of the study area from 2018 and 2022, were processed in order to derive The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and LST are being considered. Change detection methods were used to indicate the changes between the two time periods. Based on the results of this study, NDVI values show that the vegetated areas in Riyadh have not increased between (2018 and 2022). While the LST values show that the total area of UHIs has increased between (2018 and 2022). The change detection in vegetation indicates that there was a decrease in vegetation, mostly in urban areas. Where the change detection of surface temperature indicates huge areas where temperature has increased, mostly in the rural are-as, leaving few areas where the temperature has decreased. This means that the present amount of vegetation has still not made an impact in terms of decreasing the LST. Therefore, there is a need for more effort to be made in increasing the green areas within the urban environment of Riyadh.","PeriodicalId":497682,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Engineering and Architecture","volume":"206 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135437012","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.1007/s43995-023-00029-x
Raed Nayif A. Alahmadi, Abdulaziz Alzahrani
Abstract The study investigated the viability of implementing a demand-responsive transportation (DRT) system within the premises of Al-Baha University to facilitate the punctual arrival of students to their classes and ensure their convenient departure from the campus. This study aims to demonstrate and elucidate how data mining enhances the efficiency of DRT systems. The case study investigates the potential improvements in DRT operations through the utilization of data mining techniques. The research employs descriptive and prescriptive techniques for mining trip planning data. The database maintained by the Deanship of Admission and Registration et al.-Baha University in Al-Baha City, Saudi Arabia, has identified 50 designated locations for student pick-up. The research establishes a comprehensive database that classifies pick-up points as spatial vectors, incorporating longitude, latitude, and counts of students. Cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling techniques are employed to minimize travel times and enhance operational efficiency by consolidating pick-up points. A completely adaptable DRT system prioritizes user satisfaction over operational efficiency, facilitating superior flexible services with fewer buses. The University Transport Department can implement Fixed Route systems in regions with significant population density and substantial demand. Conversely, in areas with a lower population, where Fixed Route systems may be less efficient, the department can opt for DRT systems. Additionally, the findings demonstrate the potential cost-saving benefits of implementing a hybrid system that integrates the university and off-campus student housing. The results indicate that providing fully flexible DRT services to students’ harms efficiency and user experience. A comparative analysis between the Fixed route system and the DRT system reveals that the latter has the potential to offer enhanced service to students, utilizing an equivalent number of vehicles while reducing the number of rides required, all while maintaining a higher degree of flexibility in service provision. According to the recommendation of this study, it is advisable to implement a hybrid fixed route and DRT system. However, to assess the feasibility of such a system in a university setting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive viability analysis to identify any potential challenges or concerns.
{"title":"The effect of data science on urban sustainability through the optimization of demand-responsive transportation","authors":"Raed Nayif A. Alahmadi, Abdulaziz Alzahrani","doi":"10.1007/s43995-023-00029-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s43995-023-00029-x","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The study investigated the viability of implementing a demand-responsive transportation (DRT) system within the premises of Al-Baha University to facilitate the punctual arrival of students to their classes and ensure their convenient departure from the campus. This study aims to demonstrate and elucidate how data mining enhances the efficiency of DRT systems. The case study investigates the potential improvements in DRT operations through the utilization of data mining techniques. The research employs descriptive and prescriptive techniques for mining trip planning data. The database maintained by the Deanship of Admission and Registration et al.-Baha University in Al-Baha City, Saudi Arabia, has identified 50 designated locations for student pick-up. The research establishes a comprehensive database that classifies pick-up points as spatial vectors, incorporating longitude, latitude, and counts of students. Cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling techniques are employed to minimize travel times and enhance operational efficiency by consolidating pick-up points. A completely adaptable DRT system prioritizes user satisfaction over operational efficiency, facilitating superior flexible services with fewer buses. The University Transport Department can implement Fixed Route systems in regions with significant population density and substantial demand. Conversely, in areas with a lower population, where Fixed Route systems may be less efficient, the department can opt for DRT systems. Additionally, the findings demonstrate the potential cost-saving benefits of implementing a hybrid system that integrates the university and off-campus student housing. The results indicate that providing fully flexible DRT services to students’ harms efficiency and user experience. A comparative analysis between the Fixed route system and the DRT system reveals that the latter has the potential to offer enhanced service to students, utilizing an equivalent number of vehicles while reducing the number of rides required, all while maintaining a higher degree of flexibility in service provision. According to the recommendation of this study, it is advisable to implement a hybrid fixed route and DRT system. However, to assess the feasibility of such a system in a university setting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive viability analysis to identify any potential challenges or concerns.","PeriodicalId":497682,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Engineering and Architecture","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135300066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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