This book discusses a range of planning and management issues related to building urban resiliency. It covers such topics as urban, environmental, and transportation planning, historical preservation, emergency relief and management, geographic information systems (GIS) and other technological applications. The book includes case studies of several cities and districts in China, including Shanghai, and a number of cities in the United States of America. Urban resiliency in the face of uncertainty is a priority for planning and governance in communities worldwide. In China, which has suffered many of the world’s most devastating floods, earthquakes, and typhoons, preparing for the threat of disaster has long been an important planning objective. Recent calamities, such as the 2008 Winter Storms, the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, and the 2012 Beijing Floods have only made planning for resiliency more urgent. As planners work to prepare for such events, interdisciplinary collaboration becomes increasingly important. Planners need the tools and insights offered by other fields, including both the natural and social sciences. At the same time, these interdisciplinary relationships help shape the identity of urban-rural planning in its new role as one of China’s primary academic disciplines. Thus, the nexus between planning and science is critically important in building resilient cities in China, and the Chinese planning experience can serve as an example to and benefit countries around the world.

The recently established Sustainable Development Goals call for a paradigm shift in the way that buildings and infrastructures are conceived. The construction industry is a major source of environmental impacts, given its great material consumption and energy demands. It is also a major contributor to the economic growth of regions, through the provision of useful infrastructure and generation of employment, among other factors. Conventional approaches underlying current building design practices fall short of covering the relevant environmental and social implications derived from inappropriate design, construction, and planning. The development of adequate sustainable design strategies is therefore becoming extremely relevant regarding the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Agenda Goals for Sustainable Development. This book comprises 11 chapters that highlight the actual research trends in the construction sector, aiming to increase the knowledge on sustainable design practices by highlighting the actual practices that explore efficient ways to reduce the environmental consequences related to the construction industry, while promoting social wellbeing and economic development. The chapters collect papers included in the Special Issue “Trends in Sustainable Buildings and Infrastructure” of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Since 2014, and the start of the New-type Urbanization Plan (NUP), we see a turning point in the sustainability agenda of China. One of the main indicators is greening cities and the built environments, which will be covered holistically in this edited book. From the perspective of green infrastructure, in particular, the book approaches key areas of ‘forest city development’, ‘sponge city program’, ‘green roofing’, ‘nature-based solutions’, ‘urban farming’, ‘eco-city development’, etc. This is the first time that such important areas of research come together under the perspective of green Infrastructure. The results would be beneficial to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in China and across the globe. The comprehensive set of findings from this book will benefit other countries, as we aim to highlight some of the best practices of the current age. The main aim of the book is to put together an excellent group of scholars and practitioners from the field, focusing on the topic of ‘Green Infrastructure in Chinese Cities’. In doing so, we aim to cover some of the key ‘best practices’ for sustainable urbanism. Divided into four parts, the book covers four key areas of (1) Policy Interventions, (2) Planning Innovation, (3) Design Solutions, and (4) Technical Integration. In doing so, we cover an array of best practices related to green infrastructures of various types and their impacts on cities and communities in China. We expect the book to be a valuable resource for researchers in the areas of sustainability, urbanism, urban planning, urban geography, urban design, geographical sciences, environmental sciences, landscape architecture, and urban ecology. The book covers essential factors such as policy, regulations, and programs (in Part 1), planning paradigms and their impacts on urban development (in Part 2), integrated design solutions that suggest sustainable urbanization progression (in Part 3), and technical knowledge that would be utilized for the future development of green infrastructure practices in China and beyond. Lastly, this edited book aims to provide a collaborative opportunity for experts and researchers of the field, who could contribute to the future pathways of sustainable urbanization of China. Lessons extracted from these contributions could be utilized for other contexts, which will benefit a wider group of stakeholders.

Urban Transport and Land Use Planning: A Synthesis of Global Knowledge, Volume Nine in the Advances in Transport Policy and Planning series assesses practices and policies from around the world. Chapters in this updated release include TOD and travel behavior research: A bibliographical review, Mass transit investments and land use in Latin America: A review of recent developments and research findings, TODness and its impacts on TOD performance, Corridor and networked TODs: Concept and planning support tools, Rail-centered accessibility: Concept, policy, and practice, Smart growth and travel behavior: A synthesis, Advances in integrated land use transport modeling, and much more. Other sections cover Residential self-selection in the relationship between the built environment and travel behavior: a literature review and research agenda, Threshold and synergistic effects in land use-travel research, Parking requirements: How land use policy acts as transport policy, The shifting coalition for transportation/land-use policy reform, and Compact urban development in Norway: Spatial changes and underlying policies. - Provides the authority and expertise of leading contributors from an international board of authors - Presents the latest release in the Advances in Transport Policy and Planning series

This book presents essential insights into lifelong learning and education in healthy and sustainable cities, providing a basis for strategies to help achieve the 2030 Agenda sustainable development and health promotion goals. The interface between environment, health and lifelong learning is fundamental to attaining these goals, and as such, the book gathers interdisciplinary reflections from researchers, educators and other experts concerning the links between environmental quality, human health, human education and well-being, and addressing inequality, unplanned urbanization, migration, lifestyles, and consumption and production patterns. Topics include: Urban planning to address inequality in health and urban poverty; Healthy cities and healthy environments; Governance for sustainable development; Social determinants of health oriented on sustainable development goals; Education and lifelong learning for sustainability; Energy security, access and efficiency; Sustainable cities, buildings and infrastructure.

East Asia hosts a fifth of the world’s population and consumes over half the world’s coal, a quarter of its petroleum products, and a tenth of its natural gas. It also produces a third of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, making it a major contributor to climate change. The region—whose countries share ecological, sociocultural, and political characteristics while varying in size, resource wealth, history, and political systems—offers excellent insights into the complex dynamics influencing environmental politics, advocacy, and policy. With essays addressing Japan after Fukushima, coal plants and wind turbines in China, environmental activism in Taiwan, and sustainable rural development in South Korea, Greening East Asia explores a region’s shift from development to “eco-development” in acknowledgment that environmental sustainability is a critical component of economic growth.