Improving Urban Environments Strategies for Healthier and More Sustainable Cities

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. Because cities are such complex systems, creating sustainable urban environments is a challenging goal. No single strategy—or even several strategies—will be enough to achieve tomorrow’s healthy and sustainable cities. The challenges resist compartmentalization, because the factors intersect and overlap. The articles in this compendium were chosen to expand the understanding of these complicated issues in a non-linear way. The editor has selected research in the following topics: improving urban air quality; municipal solid waste alternatives; municipal water management; reducing urban energy consumption.

Introduction. Part I: Overview. Environmental Assessments in the Built Environment: Crucial yet Underdeveloped. Part II: Improving Urban Air Quality. Critical Analysis of Strategies for PM Reduction in Urban Areas. Application of Strategies for Particulate Matter Reduction in Urban Areas: An Italian Case. Infrastructure and Automobile Shifts: Positioning Transit to Reduce Life-Cycle Environmental Impacts for Urban Sustainability Goals. Recent Photocatalytic Applications for Air Purification in Belgium. Part III: Municipal Solid Waste Alternatives. Case Study: Finding Better Solutions for Municipal Solid Waste Management in a Semi Local Authority in Sri Lanka. Incineration of Pre-Treated Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) for Energy Co-Generation in a Non-Densely Populated Area. Part IV: Water Management. Innovative Urban Water Management as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy: Results from the Implementation of the Project "Water Against Climate Change (WATACLIC)." Full-Scale Implementation of a Vertical Membrane Bioreactor for Simultaneous Removal of Organic Matter and Nutrients from Municipal Wastewater. Part V: Energy Consumption. Energy Benchmarking of Commercial Buildings: A Low-Cost Pathway toward Urban Sustainability. Energy Pattern Analysis of a Wastewater Treatment Plant. Part VI: Conclusion. Sustainable Urban (re-)Development with Building Integrated Energy, Water and Waste Systems. Urban Ecosystem Health Assessment and Its Application in Management: A Multi-Scale Perspective. Index.

Ragazzi, Marco|