Assessing Urban Metabolism through MSW Carbon Footprint and Conceptualizing Municipal-Industrial Symbiosis—The Case of Zaragoza City, Spain

Analyzing the spatiotemporal pattern of the decoupling degree between carbon metabolism and economic development in village and town units

In the context of green and sustainable development and rural revitalization, analysis of the relationship between economic development and the evolution of carbon metabolism is of great significance for China's future transformation of development models. This study analyzed the spatial characteristics and spatiotemporal evolution pattern of the decoupling status between carbon metabolism and economic development of Laiwu during two periods from 2001 to 2018 at the village and town unit scales by using the Tapio decoupling model. The results showed that the growth rate of carbon metabolism from 2001 to 2009 was significantly higher than that from 2009 to 2018. The spatial heterogeneity of the decoupling states between economic development and carbon metabolism from 2009 to 2018 was significantly stronger than that from 2001 to 2009 in two units. From 2001 to 2018, the development trend gradually trended towards spatial imbalance. The decoupling status between villages and towns had a high degree of consistency from 2001 to 2009 and inconsistency from 2009 to 2018. From 2001 to 2009, the decoupling status of about 78% of villages was consistent with that of towns. Moreover, from 2009 to 2018, the consistency reduced to 32.2%, and the decoupling status of about 48% of villages was weaker than that of towns. According to the reclassification results of different decoupling state change types, from 2001 to 2018, about 52.2% of the villages had a decoupling state evolution type of eco-deteriorated economic development, which is an unsatisfactory development trend in a short time. Moreover, about 12.1% of the villages had a decoupling state evolution type of eco-improved economic development, which is a satisfactory development trend.

Assessment of the Mechanisms of Summer Thermal Environment of Waterfront Space in China’s Cold Regions

Water is an essential part of the urban ecosystem and plays a vital role in alleviating urban heat island (UHI) problems. The contribution toward UHI mitigation made by bodies of water needs to be ascertained to establish waterfront thermal environment construction standards. In this study, the thermal environment of the waterfront space of Tianjin in the cold regions of China was the research object. Through a survey including 141 valid questionnaires and the field measurement of four typical waterfront spaces in Tianjin, the thermal demand characteristics of recreational use for the waterfront environment and the influence of water on microclimate are discussed, supplemented by results from low-altitude infrared remote sensing technology, which was mainly used to obtain a wider range of infrared thermal images with higher accuracy. To improve the urban heat island effect and the quality of the ecological environment, this paper used outdoor thermal environment simulation software to quantitatively analyze the thermal environmental impact of outdoor public activity spaces around the representative urban body of water and proposes the optimization scheme of the waterfront space’s thermal environment. The results show that, based on the factors of water itself, the most economical water width was 70–80 m, and the cooling effect intensity of water had an essential correlation with the distance between the measured site and the water center. In terms of the environmental factors around the water, when the green lawn of the waterfront space was 12 m and the water shore’s geometric form was S-shaped, this could improve the cooling effect of water significantly. Waterfront activity spaces should focus on thermal comfort on the east and south water shores. It is expected that this study could provide practical implications and useful guidance for the planning and design of urban waterfront space in China’s cold regions.