Sustainable Landscape Planning in Selected Urban Regions

Rural and urban landscape components have traditionally maintained a clear separation in the morphology of European cities. In contrast, the historical landscape of Edo Japan consists of mixed rural and urban land uses, due in part to a period of relative peace that rendered contained and fortified cities redundant. Despite European and Japanese cities having very different historical drivers of their resultant urban forms, modern landscape planning discourses in both regions have shifted toward a common aim for a clear rural–urban separation. However, prevailing socioeconomic factors (associated mainly with farmers’ rights) that have sustained the mixed urban–rural pattern of Japanese landscapes resulted in a partial uptake of the modern landscape planning morphology. Instead of labeling the resultant “chaotic” urban–rural mix characteristic of modern Japanese landscapes as a “failure,” one could instead draw lessons for a better future. The initial motivator for separating the rural from the urban landscape in modern landscape planning was to limit chaotic urban expansion. However, there has been increasing recognition that cities of today have to be resilient to new challenges, such as the increased instances of extreme events. This chapter makes the case that a city with an integrated rural–urban landscape is ideal for increasing urban resilience to natural disasters. The historical Japanese landscape could, ironically, function as an urban-planning model that ensures the functional connectivity needed for food security and simultaneously ensures the provision of adequate, accessible green spaces.

This chapter focuses on the main challenges that the processes of demographic, spatial, and social political change present to current urbanization trends of the Asian region. The chapter argues that one of the major challenges is the present development trajectory of many Asian countries, which emphasizes economic growth, increasing integration into the global economy and making Asian countries competitive in the global economy. This process leads to the growth of large urban regions—“extended urban spaces” (EUSs)—that present many challenges to the urban future. In particular, the chapter argues that the most fragile areas of the EUSs are the rural urban margins where urban activities are expanding into densely populated agricultural regions, which the author calls “desakota.” It is argued that in these areas, local policies should be developed that adapt to local ecosystems. The chapter presents a research agenda for policy interventions in these areas and their implications for urban policy.

Urban and rural fusion has been a main subject of urban planning discussed for over 100 years. Recently it is drawing attention from the viewpoint of “sustainable cities” in particular. In Japan, along with consolidation of municipalities, local administrations including broad rural areas are emerging one after another. This should be regarded as a good opportunity to reestablish bioresource-circulating spheres through creating preferable landscapes and ecological networks as well as promoting the movement toward local production for local consumption. This concept of the urban and rural fusion might contribute to establishing sustainable urban communities in Asia.

This chapter discusses the needs and requirements of a sustainable urban structure as a tool in order to provide sustainable mobility in a metropolitan region. First, the objectives and effective tolls of a sustainable transport strategy are discussed. As an objective, sustainable mobility is defined to satisfy the balance among different policy objectives. As an effective tool of transport planning, a sustainable urban structure is needed to reduce travel needs with a supportive legal framework. In particular, to satisfy the social dimension of sustainable mobility, a sustainable urban structure is needed to alleviate social exclusion and the mobility gap between people who can use cars and those who cannot. Second, the essential elements of a sustainable urban structure are discussed. In a metropolitan region, high-density development is needed to accommodate a high concentration of activities. Also, a hierarchal center structure with a public transport axis can be observed in many proposals such as the Finger Plan (Copenhagen), 2040 Growth Concept (Portland), and “Dango to Kushi” (Toyama). Some of them have already shown success in providing sustainable mobility. Finally, it is recommended to use mobility management for mobility choice and space–time accessibility analysis of major activity centers to support a sustainable urban structure.

City regions are regarded as the networks of cities, towns, and villages that are closely linked to each other. Spatially, city regions can be understood as being composed of three dimensions: an urban service network, eco-cultural network, and regional innovation network. The polycentric network structure of city-regional space proposes an interactive functional relationship in which cities, towns, and villages provide their own unique services for each other. Against such a background, this chapter aims to firstly discuss the spatial concept of sustainable city regions, secondly illustrate the evolution of collaborative networks in polycentric city regions through examination of two Japanese cases, and finally address the importance of frame making, setting up a forum, and forming a strong-tie community and weak-tie network in order to establish effective polycentric city-regional governance.

Asian megacities have experienced rapid population growth and continue to grow, causing serious environmental problems. The characteristics of urbanization in these areas differ from those experienced during the growth of cities in Western countries. It is perilous to consider an environmental planning system only from the experience of a highly developed country, since the underlying processes in developed countries often differ from those in developing countries. In order to deal with urbanization and environmental problems caused by urbanization in Asian megacities—adding to the interactions between humans and the natural environment—what environmental functions the landscape elements exhibit, how they connect with each other, and how the relationships between them change in the course of urbanization must be understood. This study describes landscape changes and processes that occurred in the urban fringe of Jakarta, and examines the environmental impacts of the changes in urban climate through numerical simulation analyses and field surveys. It then discusses how to guide urbanization along a more sustainable trajectory in terms of the future landscape structure and human behavior.

About 43 % of Asians lived in urban areas in 2010 and with an accelerating urbanization rate (about 2 % per year; 2005–2010), Asia is expected to become 50 % urbanized by 2020–2025. By mid-century, Asia is projected to see its urban population increase by another 1.8 billion. This urban population explosion in Asia, mainly in developing countries, has posed severe challenges for town planners as well as researchers. Growing urban food requirements, increased city waste and effluent production, and environmental degradation are some of those challenges. The size of a city should at least closely match the supply of food it is able to procure. In Asian metros, where most of the urban growth has concentrated, procurement of food—especially fresh, perishable products—is becoming increasingly difficult. To strategically analyze urban/peri-urban agriculture in Asian cities, this chapter highlights some key issues, potentials, and challenges in this context.

The objectives of this study are: (1) to determine the change in farmland use in the fringe areas of Yogyakarta; (2) to analyze the process of farmland conversion and assess its conversion rate; (3) to identify the factors that affect this farmland conversion; and (4) to ascertain the implications related to sustainable city development in Yogyakarta.

The study showed that farmland has been intensively converted to other functions. The most noticeable change in farmland to nonresidential use occurred in the city itself, whereas in the fringe areas agricultural land has mostly been converted to residential use.

The results of regression analysis indicate that the population density, regional GDP, and number of houses built show a positive relationship with land conversion. However, only housing development has a significant effect on land conversion. Thus, it is not surprising that housing development has become the key factor in the massive farmland conversion that has taken place in Yogyakarta. This study suggests the following: (a) stringent regulations and penalties for improper behavior by developers and district officials should be imposed; (b) farmland owners need to be given incentives to continue farming their land; and (c) it is necessary to establish a “fixed sufficient farmland” in every subdistrict to secure food sufficiency.

This study examined the level and speed of urbanization in the Philippines and its influence on agriculture. Over the last 20 years, the level of urbanization in the Philippines has stabilized, but the tempo has decreased, which implies a higher growth rate in the rural population than in the urban population. The influence of urbanization is seen in terms of the declining share of agriculture in the national economy and a minimal reduction in employment in the agricultural sector. Urbanization has resulted in decreases in the area and fragmentation of farm parcels as well as in the conversion of agricultural lands to urban use.

The process of urbanization resulted in substantial land conversion, which, in turn, led to a drastic decrease in crop production areas and changed the agricultural landscape of the Metropolitan Manila area. It also placed pressure on urban fringes, making land use conversion inevitable in cities. Findings point to the need for concomitant policies to preserve agricultural lands and sustain domestic food production, and promote urban agriculture to create and preserve the green and open spaces in the cities.

The urban hydro-agricultural complex of the Chao Phraya River Delta was radically transformed as a result of Bangkok’s rapid and expansive urbanization over the last 50 years. While the delta and the city are now in conflict, they were once entangled in a highly resilient absorbent agricultural matrix in concert with climatic cycles of monsoon and dry seasons. Urban planning and design education and research can begin to address the pressing need for adaptation to urbanization in this megacity through a careful reexamination of the evidence of the resilient performative capacity of this delta city’s past through systematic archival, remote sensing, and field observation. Understanding of historical resilience and adaptation of living with water evident in indigenous and traditional processes are crucial in land and waterscape planning and design for the Chao Phraya Delta’s city region future.

This study aimed to assess Japan’s recent local production for local consumption (LPLC) movement, with a special focus on vegetables in the Osaka city region of central Japan. After collecting statistics data from multiple sources, we determined the weights of the vegetables that flowed into the Osaka city region in 2003. To do so, we aggregated the 14 major vegetables into two categories according to their preservation properties: leaf and fruit vegetables, and root vegetables. We also calculated the energy consumption embodied in the vegetable flows into the Osaka city region in 2003. The results showed that vegetables consumed in the Osaka city region came from prefectures throughout Japan, the large majority of vegetables consumed in the Osaka city region currently come from remote prefectures, and this is associated with a high level of energy consumption. Scenario analysis suggested that a decrease of more than 3.7 × 10⁵ GJ of energy inputs could be achieved through the promotion of LPLC activities in the Osaka city region.

In this study, a dynamic numerical model was developed to examine catchment-scale wastewater management, including urban household wastewater treatment. The model allowed both water quality and energy consumption to be evaluated. This system was applied to an actual sewerage system, and the effects of management strategies on water quality and energy consumption were assessed in a numerical simulation. The entire water resource system of a basin, including a forest catchment and an urban area, was evaluated synthetically from a spatial distribution perspective with respect to water quantity and quality. The life-cycle assessment technique was applied to optimize wastewater treatment management with the aim of improving water quality and reducing CO₂ emissions. A numerical model was developed to predict the water cycle and contamination in the catchment and the city; the effect of a wastewater treatment system on the urban region was evaluated; pollution loads were quantitatively assessed; and the effect of excluding rainwater from the treatment system during flooding and the effect of urban rainwater control on water quality were examined. Analysis indicated that controlling the amount of rainwater inflow into a wastewater treatment plant in an urban area with a combined sewerage system has a large impact on reducing CO₂ emissions because of the load reduction on the urban sewerage system.

Cities are important sources of contaminants at the local, regional, and global scales. In urban areas, automobile traffic, leaching from building materials, urban runoff, and industrial sources are resulting in the occurrence of elevated concentrations of metals, including Ag, Cd, Cu, Pb, Pt, Rh, Sb, Sn, W, and Zn. Here, we show that in addition to local impacts, urban contamination extends beyond the urban boundary. Two examples are provided to show that atmospheric and water-based dispersion result in regional-scale contamination. In Stockholm, contaminants are found in sediments downstream from the urban center. Platinum-group elements (PGEs) are used as tracers of urban contamination and show that a significant fraction of contaminants emitted into the atmosphere can be transported at regional scales. The projected growth of cities will lead to an increase in pollution, especially in developing countries where environmental legislation is still lagging and material use is soaring. There is in general an urgent need to raise awareness and implement programs to reduce the environmental impact of urban activities.

Urban areas in Indonesia frequently rely on the water supply from rural areas located outside their administrative boundaries. This urban–rural interrelation through water resources and the problems related to sustainability of the supply apply to the Indonesian city of Bandung, where the demand is increasing for clean water for daily needs. This provincial capital relies on water supplies generated in catchment areas located in different towns and districts outside the city. A multidisciplinary study was carried out to elucidate the present and future conditions of the water supply for Bandung as well as factors affecting the sustainability of that supply. This study demonstrates that the present situation in the catchment areas is a cause for concern, and environmental conditions are worsening in some parts of the catchment. Among the measures adopted to deal with the current problems are reforestation and land conservation; however, other essential factors relating to agricultural practices and efficient water use have not been properly considered. A conceptual plan needs to be implemented at the landscape level—a plan that takes into account both biophysical and social aspects of the area where the rehabilitation program for maintaining sustainability of the water supply will be carried out.

This chapter provides an overview of urban agriculture (UA) in the Philippines. Several academic and government initiatives are described that relate to UA and have led to an awareness and recognition of UA. The practice of UA is illustrated through studies conducted on commercial vegetable production within Metro Manila and also on a peri-urban livelihood system based on the jasmine species known as sampaguita (Jasminum sambac Ait), which is used to make garlands in San Pedro, Laguna, a municipality adjacent to Metro Manila. These studies reveal the positive impact of urban and peri-urban agricultural activities on employment and income generation as well as the promotion of positive social values. Most crop production in Metro Manila has been discontinued owing to the inability to compete with land use prioritization. The lack of clear government policy with respect to UA has contributed to the decline of the practice. Recommendations are made for the promotion of urban and peri-urban agriculture.

This overview addresses the most recent decade of growth and change in urban agriculture in North America. Based on a series of case studies and review of current practice it identifies four directions of urban agriculture: growing up—vertical farming, growing in urban voids, growing systems, and going public. These directions respond to three critical questions: how has urban agriculture responded to both processes of deindustrialization and urban growth? What are the strategies to “scale up” what has largely been many small-scale community-based efforts into more significant land use patterns? How can urban agriculture have a significant impact on the social, ecological, and spatial systems of the city? Collectively, the new forms of practice and projects of the emerging Urban Agriculture Movement offer critical alternatives for reorganizing and shaping urban forms and processes.

This chapter gives an outline on the development of regional planning and important contemporary regional projects in the Ruhr region. In the 1920s, when Germany first became a democracy within the Weimar Republic, regional planning was established in the Ruhr region (Siedlungsverband Ruhrkohlenbezirk (SVR)) to organize traffic as well as urban and economic development and to protect greenbelts on a supralocal level. After World War II, SVR underwent several changes, which led to new terminologies. SVR was replaced by KVR (Kommunalverband Ruhrgebiet (Association of Local Authorities of the Ruhr Region) in 1979. Since 2004 the same organization has been called RVR (Regionalverband Ruhr (Regional Association of Ruhr)). New legislation at the federal state level has extended the competencies of RVR in the field of regional planning in 2009. Despite of the chances for the Ruhr region, which are linked with the responsibility for regional planning in one authority, there have been many benefits for the region in recent decades, emerging from informal planning instruments, processes or events, such as the International Building Exhibition (IBA) Emscher Park in 1989, which was succeeded by a huge number of further projects contributing to implementation of major goals of IBA Emscher Park. The efforts that have been undertaken in the Ruhr region in recent decades have contributed not only to structural change in terms of economics but also to mental changes in how people perceive the region.

Biowaste is the large volume of solid waste generated daily by households, and it presents environmental and health hazards if not reused. Composting is one of the best options for such reuse. This study documents biowaste generation and collection from households and reuse through composting in Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City, Philippines. This barangay (the smallest administrative unit) has made pioneering efforts in composting, having developed it from a simple process to a mechanized process. The barangay’s composting has been integrated with its vegetable and flower urban garden, which serves as a demonstration and training center on how to provide livelihood opportunities and environmental benefits. However, to enhance the compost’s marketability, issues relating to quality, such as the high organic carbon, high carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, and low levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, need to be addressed. The barangay intends to boost compost production and sales, thereby increasing income, which can further improve the solid-waste management and increase staff salaries. Barangay Holy Spirit is one of the most developed barangays in terms of solid-waste management, and it can serve as a model for other barangays.

Groundwater is an important resource for cities, but its management is still characterized by partial measures. Unsuccessful management is evident in inland seawater intrusion, land subsidence, and a permanent drop in the water table, which have taken place in many cities in Indonesia. To manage groundwater, a system interrelationship model is proposed here as a concept that integrates knowledge about components related to groundwater and defines their interrelationships. These interrelationships signify that any alterations to one component inevitably affect connected components. The components that make up the system are housing, agriculture, industry, laws and regulations, water supply companies, seawater, shallow groundwater, surface water, and the recharge area. Knowledge is mapped in the form of a diagram to establish how knowledge relating to the components plays a role in the defined system. By understanding how the system works, ideas on interventions in the components can be identified so that the system may be shifted toward defined goals. Thus, knowledge about the role of the system’s components and the mutual relationships among those components forms the basis for an integrated approach to interventions that aim to sustain groundwater.

Since 1994, collaborative planning has gradually become more commonplace in Taiwan following the introduction of bottom-up policies for community development. Collaborative planning is a possible way for a city region to achieve sustainability. Thus far, however, few studies have examined regional decision making in Taiwan that involves collaborative planning with local voluntary organizations. Without such local involvement, planning efforts for a city region may give rise to conflicts between core and peripheral areas. To fill this gap in the research, this chapter investigates a case of local voluntary organizations that were able to establish an informal collaborative network, which was able to achieve governance at the city-regional level. This chapter describes the processes and issues relating to informal collaborative networks in Meinung, a city region in southern Taiwan. This study reveals that adaptation and flexibility are necessary for the formation, consolidation, multifunctional character, and development of an informal collaborative network.