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In recent decades, extreme rains and drought have struck urban regions in Africa like never before. Nevertheless, limited information is available on which to base development of early warning systems, identification of high-risk zones and formulation of local action plans. This book is about how to build the knowledge necessary for planning adaptation to climate change in Sub-Saharan cities. It brings together lessons learned from international development actions conducted by a number of scholars in disciplines ranging from meteorology and hydrogeology to urban planning and environmental management. Selected methods to assess the impacts of extreme weather and ecological stress are presented along with possible approaches to improve the adaptive capacity of Sub-Saharan cities through institutional measures at the local government level. The book is addressed to graduate students, researchers and practitioners interested in enhancing their knowledge and skills in order to integrate climate change into applied research and development projects in urban Africa.
This book presents the latest findings and ongoing research in the field of green information systems as well as green information and communication technology (ICT). It provides insights into a whole range of cross-cutting concerns in ICT and environmental sciences and showcases how information and communication technologies allow environmental and energy efficiency issues to be handled effectively. Offering a selection of extended and reworked contributions to the 30th International Conference EnviroInfo 2016, it is essential reading for anyone wanting to extend their expertise in the area.
This book is one out of 8 IAEG XII Congress volumes, and deals with the theme of urban geology. Along with a rapidly growing world population, the wave of urban growth continues, causing cities to swell and new metropolitan centers to emerge. These global trends also open new ventures for underground city development. Engineering geology plays a major role in facing the increasing issues of the urban environment, such as: finding aggregates for construction works; providing adequate water supply and waste management; solving building problems associated to geological and geomorphological conditions; evaluating host rock conditions for underground constructions; preventing or mitigating geolo...
The ecosystems present a great diversity worldwide and use various functionalities according to ecologic regions. In this new context of variability and climatic changes, these ecosystems undergo notable modifications amplified by domestic uses of which it was subjected to. Indeed the ecosystems render diverse services to humanity from their composition and structure but the tolerable levels are unknown. The preservation of these ecosystemic services needs a clear understanding of their complexity. The role of research is not only to characterise the ecosystems but also to clearly define the tolerable usage levels. Their characterisation proves to be important not only for the local populations that use it but also for the conservation of biodiversity. Hence, the measurement, management and protection of ecosystems need innovative and diverse methods. For all these reasons, the aim of this book is to bring out a general view on the function of ecosystems, modelling, sampling strategies, invading species, the response of organisms to modifications, the carbon dynamics, the mathematical models and theories that can be applied in diverse conditions.
More than half of the world population now lives in cities, and urban expansion continues as rural people move to cities. This results in the loss of land for other purposes, particularly soil for agriculture and drainage. This book presents a review of current knowledge of the extension and projected expansion of urban areas at a global scale. Focusing on the impact of the process of 'land take' on soil resources and the ecosystem services that they provide, it describes approaches and methodologies for detecting and measuring urban areas, based mainly on remote sensing, together with a review of models and projected data on urban expansion. The most innovative aspect includes an analysis of the drivers and especially the impacts of soil sealing and land take on ecosystem services, including agriculture and food security, biodiversity, hydrology, climate and landscape. Case studies of cities from Europe, China and Latin America are included. The aim is not only to present and analyse this important environmental challenge, but also to propose and discuss solutions for the limitation, mitigation and compensation of this process.
Processes of multi-scalar regional urbanization are occurring worldwide. Such processes are clearly distinguishable from those of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries due to the shifting concepts of both the city and the metropolis. International literature highlights how what we have historically associated with the idea of cities has long been subjected to consistent reconfiguration, which involves stressing some of the typical features of the idea of "cityness". Post-Metropolitan Territories: Looking for a New Urbanity is the product of a research project funded by the Italian Ministry for Education, Universities and Research (MIUR). It constitutes a thorough overview of a country that ...