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This study investigates the impact of green open spaces in reducing the probability of flooding and open waste burning in urban areas in Indonesia’s three largest metropolitan cities: Surabaya, Jakarta, and Medan. This study employs urban village microdata from the 2014 and 2018 Village Potential Census. First, we construct the dataset into a difference-in-differences setup. The urban villages that initially did not have any green open spaces in 2014 and then had them in 2018 were assigned as the treatment group, and those without any green open spaces in both periods were the comparison group. Then, we estimated the impact of urban green spaces on the probability of flooding and open waste burning. The results indicate that the likelihood of flooding and open waste burning had decreased in treated areas by 2018.

Comprehensive indicators of sustainability need to be accessible, useful, and attractive to decision makers and the general public. To this end, we introduce a new aggregation, scaling, and presentation methodology. Called the "The Compass Index of Sustainability", it clusters indicators and assessment scores into four quadrants, based on the metaphor of the compass: N = Nature, E = Economy, S = Society, W = Well-being. The clusters are adapted from the theoretical work of Herman Daly ("Daly's Pyramid") as modified by Donella H. Meadows. In application, the Compass turns a complex indicator set into a series of four performance indices, one for each Compass Point, on a 0–100 scale. Normative decisions based on both scientific and social values determine the conversion formula for each indicator. The four indices can be superaggregated to produce an "Overall Sustainability Index". Once established, the scales provide clear signals about sustainability performance over time compared to an absolute or "ideal" target end-state, rather than the performance of other actors. First applied and publicly released in Orlando, Florida, USA, in July 2000, the compass proved a powerful media communications vehicle in that context, resulting in extensive regional news coverage; and it made a significant strategic impact on regional decision makers, specifically in philanthropy. Versions of the methodology are now being applied in several other US regions, cities, and communities, and other applications are being developed to assess and aggregate corporate sustainability performance as well. The authors believe the Compass Index can also be used as an interface or "add-on" to other indicator systems, such as the emerging Global Reporting Initiative; and as a management tool for comparing performance among variables, identifying priorities, and setting clear improvement targets.

This paper describes the theoretical foundations of the Compass Index; the implementation of the first prototype in Orlando, Florida; and the impact of that report on local media and decision makers. It also provides a discussion on problems and challenges associated with the model.

Note: The Compass Index of Sustainability, in format and methodology, is the intellectual property of AtKisson, Inc. All rights are reserved. Academic research is encouraged, but commercial use is restricted. Please contact the firm for licensing information.

Cities affect and are affected by climate change. Local land use comprehensive plans have an essential role in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction. The study addresses two critical research questions: 1) How well do the fastest growing cities in the U.S. implement the low-carbon principles in their local comprehensive land use plans? and 2) How can local comprehensive land use plans be improved to promote low-carbon development? An evaluation protocol with five plan components and thirty-five indicators was developed to measure local land use planning capacity in building low-carbon cities. Results show that the majority of these cities have already established their comprehensive low-carbon city framework; however, they fail to fully incorporate specific low-carbon planning strategies into their plans. These cities can improve their local plan quality by enhancing the scientific basis of the plans, adopting more specific goals and policies, and expanding the planners' toolbox to achieve low-carbon city planning.

Markets, especially land markets, can facilitate climate change adaptation through price signals. A review of research reveals that urban, coastal, and agricultural land markets provide effective signals of the emerging costs of climate change. These signals encourage adjustments by both private owners and policy officials in taking preemptive action to reduce costs. In agriculture, they promote consideration of new cropping and tillage practices, seed types, timing, and location of production. They also stimulate use of new irrigation technologies. In urban areas, they motivate new housing construction, elevation, and location away from harm. They channel more efficient use of water and its application to parks and other green areas to make urban settings more desirable with higher temperatures. Related water markets play a similar role in adjusting water use and reallocation. To be effective, however, markets must reflect multiple traders and prices must be free to adjust. Where these conditions are not met, market signals will be inhibited and market-driven adaptation will be reduced. Because public policy is driven by constituent demands, it may not be a remedy. The evidence of the National Flood Insurance Program and federal wildfire response illustrates how politically difficult it may be to adjust programs to be more adaptive.

Pluvial flooding is a major concern in urban environments with limited or temporarily reduced efficiency of surface drainage. Climate change, land use change, and increased exposure in hazard prone areas play a role in increasing pluvial flood risks. We describe a methodology for rapid probabilistic pluvial flood hazard mapping and risk assessments in urban environments developed for the Copernicus Climate Change Service “Pluvial Flood Risk Assessment in Urban Areas” demonstrator project for large computational domains. The methodology is designed to be flexible and robust enough to be adapted to other cities in Europe and elsewhere, and is composed of three main steps: (i) computation of the intensity–frequency relationship to express the depth of extreme hourly rainfall events at the urban scale; (ii) characterization of the pluvial flood hazard by means of raster-based flood modeling, and; (iii) estimation of the direct tangible damages at the building level for residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. Methods are tested for 20 cities across Europe and considering two infiltration rate scenarios. Spatial-explicit results at the urban-scale highlight the neighborhoods and sub-urban areas more adversely affected in terms of direct tangible damage to buildings and assets. Probabilistic risk assessment results indicate that Brussels, Antwerp, and London are the cities with higher expected annual damages per built-up area among the 20 cities considered in this study. These results can be useful for supporting the implementation of the Sendai Framework for DRR 2015–2030, for developing multi-hazard risk assessments, and for supporting the development of national climate change adaptation plans.

The labor force participation rate of women in India has decreased despite economic growth, which has limited the advancement of their rights unlike in most other countries. This paper examines the determinants of labor force participation by gender in rural and urban areas using a probit model with data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) for 2011–2012 to analyze the factors that restrict workforce participation. The estimation results are presented below. First, the marital status of males, both rural and urban, has a significant impact on their participation in the workforce due to family support. In contrast, females face multiple restrictions based on marital, caste and religion, demonstrating that sociocultural factors have limited their participation regardless of regional factors. Second, in rural areas, the educational years of female workers negatively affect labor participation, but the constraints of marriage are weaker than in urban areas. Women in lower castes participate more in the rural labor force, which is interpreted as a result of their livelihood in the industrial structure consisting of agriculture. On the other hand, the caste system negatively affects female participation in urban areas. Finally, these results indicate that the low-labor participation of females is the result of a complicated process influenced by various factors, including regional effects and patriarchal cultural values in India. Therefore, it is necessary to provide employment opportunities and encourage economic incentives for more women to enter the labor market spontaneously, considering regional effects in policies, in order for women to emerge as one group of social leaders.

The urban narrative environment is one of the means to improve the environment, which is based on the inheritance of urban culture, human feelings, and the ability to enhance the sustainable development of the city. This paper will study three elements of the urban narrative environment, namely, space factor, time factor and event factor, to offer three cognitive ways of urban narrative environment. These ways are to proceed in conjunction with the cognitive narrative elements of the environment to explore specific methods to create a narrative environment. Finally it can be applied in urban planning and design.