Urban Update 22 November 2022

Friday 22 November 2024

Energy and Climate Change

Towards sustainable urban energy solutions: A multi-dimensional assessment framework for fifth-generation district heating and cooling systems - Energy and Buildings
Results show that 5GDHC systems can reduce both capital and operational costs, by up to 26% and Greenhouse gas emissions by up to 21%.

What is a fifth generation district heating and cooling system?

  • Low Temperature Distribution - Unlike earlier generations of district heating and cooling systems, which distribute heat at high temperatures eg 100 centigrade or higher, fifth generation district heating and cooling systems use low-temperature water (close to ambient temperature) for distribution. This minimizes heat losses in the network.
  • Providing both heating and cooling water - 5GDHC systems allow for both heating and cooling to be supplied simultaneously within the same network. Users can discharge excess heat (such as from refrigeration plant) or cold back (such as from heat pumps used for heating) into the system, enabling efficient energy sharing.
  • Decentralized Energy Sources - Instead of relying on centralized plants, 5GDHC systems often use multiple, locally available renewable energy sources like geothermal energy, solar thermal, waste heat, or even seasonal thermal storage.
  • Heat Pumps at User Level Heat pumps are installed at the individual building or consumer level. They extract or inject heat as needed, tailored to specific requirements, ensuring high energy efficiency.
  • A systems approach to achieve energy efficiency – achieved by balancing heating and cooling demands within the network. For example, waste heat from one building can be used to heat another.

The major problem is that the current legislation for the control and operation of the space below streets is evolved from the medieval and Victorian era, and totally unsuited to modern needs: MMC - Modified Medieval Chaos.  

Study finds increased humidity diminishes daytime cooling gains in urban green spaces >>>>
During the day, green spaces are indeed cooler than the surrounding built-up areas, but this effect is often counterbalanced by increased humidity.  Trees reduce temperatures by evapo-transpiration, which simultaneously increases humidity. This temperature reduction and humidity increase work against each other, resulting in a reduced change to the wet-bulb temperature.
 

Natural Environment 

'The sixth great extinction is happening', conservation expert warns >>>>

London commuter rediscovers tiny, invasive bug not seen for 18 years >>>>
 
Colwick: How England's largest 'fish motorway' actually works >>>>
 
River emits five times more methane downstream of  wastewater treatment plant, research finds >>>>
 

Politics, Philosophy, Economics, History

Budget 2024: Inheritance tax and family farms – House of Lords Library
Amid the large amount of misinformation that has been published, the House of Lords Library has produced a helpful and very straightforward table showing different scenarios: a farm worth £3million owned by two adults can be passed on to a child or grandchild without incurring tax.  For the rest of the population, a couple can only pass on £1 million in assets before incurring inheritance tax.

For a definition of a farm for IHT purposes >>>>

The longer term questions will be whether the IHT provisions will help to reduce the cost of development land, as it becomes less attractive as a means for avoiding tax liability.
 
Houses in national parks in England and Wales sell for 25% more than equivalent average house prices, study finds >>>>
This study by Nationwide found:

  • 25% premium for a property situated within a National Park
  • 7% premium for a property within 5km of a National Park
  • 15% premium for a property located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

 
Assessing trends in regional and local government: “A pendulum or a stopped clock? Rupture, continuity and political change in English sub-national government under Labour” - Local Economy
This article argues that, while distancing itself from Conservative rhetoric, the Labour government appears to have no plans to restructure local government and has returned to cities as engines of growth.

  • Historical Context: Local government in the UK has undergone numerous changes since the 19th century, driven by debates on the best scale for delivering services and fostering economic growth.
  • 1970s to 2010s Reforms: Significant reforms included creating and abolishing regional structures (e.g., Metropolitan County Councils, Government Office Regions) and introducing Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and Combined Authorities.
  • City Regions and Devolution: From the 2010s, reforms emphasized city regions and devolution, introducing Combined Authorities and directly elected Metro Mayors to enhance local accountability and economic decision-making.
  • Northern Powerhouse (2014): Aimed at devolving power to Northern cities with Metro Mayors, focusing on economic development, planning, and transport. Success depended on local leaders' negotiation skills.
  • “Torpor” (2016–2019): Under Theresa May, Brexit dominated the agenda, stalling devolution progress. Efforts emphasized a UK-wide industrial strategy rather than focusing on neglected regions.
  • Levelling Up (2019–2024): Promoted nationwide economic improvement but was criticized for inconsistency, favouring Conservative areas, and a lack of meaningful progress.

Labour’s Vision (2024): Labour plans to expand and deepen devolution, encouraging local authorities to take new powers and promote economic growth outside Westminster’s control. This approach signals continuity with past governments' focus on regional growth through decentralization.

  • Austerity remains with many local authorities in deep financial difficulties.
  • Council of Nations and Regions – the role has yet to be clarified
  • Many areas remain outside devolution deals
  • Significant powers and funding remain centralized in Westminster.  And if local authorities don’t have funding, their ability to exercise powers will be limited.

 

History

 Major discovery on origin of writing in birthplace of civilization >>>>
 
Archaeology breakthrough! 4,000-year-old fort city found hidden in Saudi oasis >>>>
 
Archaeologists make ‘remarkable’ discovery of 2,000 year old Roman road in London >>>>

 

Humans, Health, Society

Creating Healthy Communities – a study of two communities over 10 years - report published by jtp
The report covers:

  • Graylingwell, Chichester where the Chichester and Graylingwell Community Development Trust has been at work; and
  • Cholsey Meadows, next to the Saxon planned town of Wallingford.


At Graylingwell, the trust was set up with an endowment fund, getting things off to a good start.  Through entrepreneurial leadership and hard work since 2012 it has grown from a turnover of £17k per annum and one full time member of staff, to a projected £3million for the current financial year, looking after 14 community buildings and facilities, 20 acres of publicly accessible land, with a team of 10.   It now includes numerous halls and spaces for hire for community and private events and activities, and a large former chapel repurposed into a 5500 square ft space for exhibitions, play area, meetings and larger scale community activities along with a high-quality café run by an external company. 

It is clear from the two examples that people make places, with key individuals making a great difference.   When the majority of new development lacks community of infrastructure, and practically none has any organised social activity, these two outstanding examples could be copied everywhere. 
 
An empirical study on smart city construction to enhance residents’ participation in physical activity – Scientific Reports
Smart cities (those that heavily exploit ICT, internet of things etc, in their operation, significantly enhance residents’ engagement in physical activities.  This is thought to be due to increased awareness of opportunities, better planning of sports and leisure facilities such as smart gyms, smart sports parks, and smart trails making them more accessible and convenient to use, and the overall optimisation of the built environment.
Recommendations include ensuring equitable resource distribution, and strengthened national fitness initiatives. Smart city efforts should prioritize inclusivity and sustainable urban development to maximize their impact on physical activity levels.
 
How to implement nature-based interventions in hospitals, long-term care facilities for elderly, and rehabilitation centres: a scoping review - Urban Forestry & Urban Greening
This paper considers awareness of the potential, design issues such as plant selection and safety, and the need for funding.
 
Two papers examining teenagers' perspectives on the built envirnment: 
1. “Instead of Building More Buildings, They Should Plant More Trees”, a Photovoice Study of Determinants of Happiness and Sadness Among East London Adolescents - Qualitative Health Research
Employing the Photovoice method, this study had a small group of adolescents take photographs of places and things that evoked their happiness or sadness, before discussing them as a group.
The study highlighted adolescents’ appreciation for beautiful and well-maintained environments. These were mostly related to nature, but also included architecture.
 
2. “I like seeing people, different cultures, and hearing different music”: Exploring adolescent perspectives of inclusive and healthy high-rise and dense urban environment designs - Landscape and Urban Planning
This Canadian study used participant-led interviews with 22 adolescents to highlight “specific design concepts and characteristics that adolescents believe to contribute to, or diminish, their health and feelings of inclusion in these settings”.
The most important positive aspects were assessed to be:

  • Accessibility
    • Especially with regard to local amenities and places for cross-cultural communal activity.
  • Quality
    • Vibrant streetscapes
    • Meaningful local places
    • Restful natural spaces
  • Safety
    • Well-maintained paths and trails
    • Streetlighting

 Negative aspects were found to include:

  • Poor control of litter and refuse, (sanitation is the term used in the paper, though clearly they don’t mean sanitation in the conventional sense)
  • Poor quality natural environmental
  • Transport-orientated rather than pedestrian oriented designs
  • Ambiguous design function – empty streets, unused spaces in public areas

 
Malala: I never imagined women's rights would be lost so easily >>>>
Malala, the 27 year old peace and human rights campaigner has spoken out against the loss of women’s rights in Afghanistan.  There are codes on dress, and strict rules preventing women from travelling without a male chaperone

It is easy to forget that women in western societies have very significant restrictions, with around 1 in 5 women not venturing out on their own after dark. A risk averse culture can exist within families, not differentiating between perceived and actual danger.  It is shameful that women should not enjoy the same freedom as men.  
 

Built Environment 

Acute canopy deficits in global cities exposed by the 3-30-300 benchmark for urban nature - Nature Communications
The 3-30-300 rule offers a straightforward framework to measure access to urban nature for improving human wellbeing, with three key standards:

  • At 3 Trees visible from every building: Homes, schools, and workplaces.
  • 30% Neighbourhood Tree Canopy Cover
  • 300 Metres to a Park or Greenspace

The ‘3 trees’ criterion is met more frequently, indicating visual access to trees is relatively achievable.
The ‘300 metres’ criterion varies widely across cities, often depending on existing green space distribution.
Key Issues: Inadequate planting conditions hinder tree growth, and governance issues (like premature tree removal or over-pruning) exacerbate the problem.  Many neighbourhoods fail the 30 percent tree canopy cover target owing to small or insufficiently grown trees.
 
According to the paper, cities should:

  1. Enhance tree planting conditions (e.g., soil quality, irrigation).
  2. Strengthen policies to protect trees from unnecessary pruning or removal.
  3. Invest in long-term strategies to improve tree canopy growth and equitable green space access​

In New York, according to the paper only 1 percent of neighbourhoods achieve a 30 percent tree canopy cover, and yet over 90 percent of buildings have a view of three or more trees.  Amsterdam there were no neighbourhoods with 30 percent tree canopy cover, yet over half of buildings had a view of three or more trees, and over 50 percent of buildings are within 300 metres of a park or greenspace.   
The paper also discusses how far a tree can be away from a building to be counted as visible, what constitutes a neighbourhood, and what constitutes a park or greenspace.
 
There will be people who think the 3:30:300 rule of thumb is a useful metric or goal, and others who think that it is a coarse tool if used globally and that canopy targets need to be tailored to climate and city.
 
Estimating the density of urban trees in 1890s Leeds and Edinburgh using object detection on historical maps - Computers, Environment and Urban Systems
This paper reports on the development of a method for automated analysis of Ordnance survey maps from the 1890s drawn to a scale of 1:500, which contain symbols for individual trees
Leeds – 37 tree symbols per hectare
Edinburgh – 40 tree symbols per hectare
For the map of Leeds >>>>  centred on the town hall
 
Bid to bring back Scottish building stone industry >>>>
As concern over net-zero construction continues, there is growing interest in natural stone for building, as it offers the possibility of low embedded carbon and long life, fire resistance, and genuine local distinctiveness.   
 
Major Lenders reject homes with spray foam insulation >>>>
Spray foam insulation however continues to be advertised
 

Schemes

New pictures show first look inside Zed Pods modular homes built on an industrial estate car park >>>>
 
Long-empty overgrown school site in Wales to be demolished to make way for social housing >>>>
Unfortunately the scheme, judging by the artists impressions, by using large corner radii at the site entrance ignores Manual for Streets, needlessly interrupts the footway along the main street and contains an excessive area of carriageway. 
 
Newcastle Council expected to take back control of city's parks from charity Urban Green Newcastle owing to its struggling finances>>>>
 
1,000-home Wolverhampton city centre scheme in for planning >>>>