Urban development and climate change

Exploring the Features of Sustainable Urban Form and the Factors that Provoke Shoppers towards Shopping Malls

This study examined various features of urban form, which promote sustainable development and provoke shoppers toward shopping malls. A field survey was conducted in shopping malls at Hangzhou, which is the capital city of the Zhejiang province, China. Structural equation modeling and a confirmatory factor analysis were used to measure the hypotheses. The results of this study showed that the built environment and entertainment completely mediated the relationship between ambiance and consumption, and they have a positive impact on the environment and shoppers. The built environment and entertainment are viewed as essential elements of physical and social sustainability. Real estate developers, urban planners, and shopping mall managers should consider the design features of urban form to meet sustainable development goals and to attract more shoppers. Testing these relationships via a mediating method is a novel contribution to the study of shopping malls.

Influence of the built environment on pedestrian route choices of adolescent girls

We examined the influence of the built environment on pedestrian route selection among adolescent girls. Portable global positioning system units, accelerometers, and travel diaries were used to identify the origin, destination, and walking routes of girls in San Diego, CA and Minneapolis, MN. We completed an inventory of the built environment on every street segment to measure the characteristics of routes taken and not taken. Route-level variables covering four key conceptual built environment domains (Aesthetics, Destinations, Functionality, and Safety) were used in the analysis of route choice. Shorter distance had the strongest positive association with route choice, while the presence of a greenway or trail, higher safety, presence of sidewalks, and availability of destinations along a route were also consistently positively associated with route choice at both sites. The results suggest that it may be possible to encourage pedestrians to walk farther by providing high quality and stimulating routes.

Near-roadway pollution and childhood asthma: implications for developing "win-win" compact urban development and clean vehicle strategies

BACKGROUND

The emerging consensus that exposure to near-roadway traffic-related pollution causes asthma has implications for compact urban development policies designed to reduce driving and greenhouse gases.

OBJECTIVES

We estimated the current burden of childhood asthma-related disease attributable to near-roadway and regional air pollution in Los Angeles County (LAC) and the potential health impact of regional pollution reduction associated with changes in population along major traffic corridors.

METHODS

The burden of asthma attributable to the dual effects of near-roadway and regional air pollution was estimated, using nitrogen dioxide and ozone as markers of urban combustion-related and secondary oxidant pollution, respectively. We also estimated the impact of alternative scenarios that assumed a 20% reduction in regional pollution in combination with a 3.6% reduction or 3.6% increase in the proportion of the total population living near major roads, a proxy for near-roadway exposure.

RESULTS

We estimated that 27,100 cases of childhood asthma (8% of total) in LAC were at least partly attributable to pollution associated with residential location within 75 m of a major road. As a result, a substantial proportion of asthma-related morbidity is a consequence of near-roadway pollution, even if symptoms are triggered by other factors. Benefits resulting from a 20% regional pollution reduction varied markedly depending on the associated change in near-roadway proximity.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that there are large and previously unappreciated public health consequences of air pollution in LAC and probably in other metropolitan areas with dense traffic corridors. To maximize health benefits, compact urban development strategies should be coupled with policies to reduce near-roadway pollution exposure.