Key Concepts in Urban Studies

Breathing the Same Air? Measuring Air Pollution in Cities and Regions

“…CO 2 emissions per capita in cities are generally lower in densely populated places (OECD 2013). Similarly, compact cities are found to be more efficient in energy use and transport, with a positive impact on decreasing greenhouse gas emissions (Satterthwaite, 1999;Gottdiener and Budd, 2005). However, a higher density of people and activities increases the exposure of individuals to air pollution, and therefore a static positive relation between air pollution and population density is expected.…”

Peripherialisation as a Result and Driving Force of Territorial Mobility in Post-Socialist Romania

“…The resulting differentiated life chances that residents have in centres or peripheries support the reproduction and the further increase of unequal development (Gottdiener and Budd, 2005) . Given the lack of services in peripheral areas, including educational facilities and the limited choices of career paths, unsatisfied inhabitants (when possessing the necessary means) try to re-place themselves in a preferred living environment, perceived as having a higher quality, which promise to increase the chances of well-being for them and their family (Boyle et al, 1998) .…”

“…Through the growing concentration of capital investment in urban centres and suburban settlements, where the rate of return is the highest, core-periphery disparities have been increasing, creating a more polarised space at a regional scale. In this system, centres benefit from the cumulative effects set off by higher levels of capital investment: creating jobs, generating tax revenues, engaging in a variety of political and innovation networks, and enabling public investments to improve their infrastructure and the quality of life (Gottdiener and Budd, 2005) . Conversely, peripheries are left struggling with limited access to generally available and desirable resources (material or symbolic), and with restricted room for autonomous action (Kreckel, 2004) .…”

Do We Really Need Signs? Urban Wayshowing Designed From Within the Surroundings

“…On the other hand, Walkability is a term to describe the environment's own quality that have direct impact on users' walking behaviour. Urbanists Jane Jacob and William H Whyte strongly argued for the impact of walk-able cities and the important role played by street culture on the quality of social life and health of the users [9], [12]. Furthermore, in linking the visual and the physical aspects, Cullen [7] mentioned a 'co-serial vision' [or the 'ambient optic array' as Gibson [22] called it in his book The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception].…”

“…However, there are four factors that have been distinctly reported as influential and have direct effect on the overall wayfinding process. These factors are: 1) the culture of the space and its users [7]- [12]. 2) The environment, which consists of many complex characteristics that can be individually focused upon or as a whole.…”