Urbanization rate in Central America is the second fastest worldwide and its major cities face challenges regarding urban sustainability. Urban Green Fabric (UGF) is an important material condition for the urban quality of life and, therefore, key to planning processes. We performed an analysis of the UGF of Guatemala City including the identification and classification of UGF, their spatial pattern analysis, construction of ensembles of districts (zones) and revealing citizen’s interactions with UGF.

Soundscape analyses and noise measurements should be a part of pre-design works involved in planning green areas in city centers. The aim of the study was to conduct a multi-criteria analysis of the soundscape of three parks in Olsztyn (Poland) as a part of the landscape planning process to determine the directions of re-design of places most exposed to noise. The research included: 1. functional and spatial analysis of the park surroundings in reference to the city environment, 2. analysis of the acoustic map, 3.

Civic participation has an irreplaceable role in the land-use planning process because it contributes a practical perspective to expert knowledge. This article discusses whether there is actually a level of civic participation that can be considered optimal, which would allow experts to effectively obtain information from everyday users of the territory, who have the best practical knowledge of it; experts may also gain sufficient feedback on intended developments, based on knowledge about civic participation from representatives of individual municipalities.

Landslide susceptibility mapping is essential for a suitable land use managing and risk assessment. In this work a GIS-based approach has been proposed to map landslide susceptibility in the Portofino promontory, a Mediterranean area that is periodically hit by intense rain events that induce often shallow landslides. Based on over 110 years landslides inventory and experts’ judgements, a semi-quantitative analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method has been applied to assess the role of nine landslide conditioning factors, which include both natural and anthropogenic elements.

Contemporary evaluations of urban growth management (UGM) strategies often take the shape of quantitative measurements of land values and housing prices. In this paper, we argue that it is of key importance that these evaluations also analyse the policy formulation and implementation phases of growth management strategies. It is in these phases that the institutions and discourses are (trans)formed in which UGM strategies are embedded. This will enable us to better understand the conditions for growth management policies’ success or failure.

Real estate development is a significant factor in planning the built environment. It shapes the way people live and work, and by doing so enables human activity to evolve. Real estate development forms a contemporary reflection of social, economic, environmental, and political forces at hand. Furthermore, due to globalization, we are increasingly witnessing similar trends for space despite institutional differences existing between countries and cities contained within their national borders.

In spatial planning and environmental management, maps are found very helpful in many situations, but in other situations they may also deepen conflicts or be ignored. This paper addresses the question what explains such phenomena, with particular emphasis on, and reference to, collaborative policymaking settings in the Netherlands. We have elaborated the concept of ‘frames’ and ‘framing’ to structure and analyze the function of maps in the context of deliberative policymaking.

Clay is a common lithology in the Dutch shallow subsurface. It is used in earth constructions such as dikes, and as raw material for the fabrication of bricks, roof tiles etc. We present a new national assessment of Dutch clay resources, as part of a project that provides mineral-occurrence information for land-use planning purposes. The assessment is based on a 3D geological model, which consists of voxel cells with lithological composition as primary attribute, and has been obtained by interpolating data of more than 380,000 digital borehole descriptions.

Het RIVM heeft in samenwerking met TNO twee methoden uitgewerkt om in een bepaald gebied de kans op een ongeval met een groot aantal slachtoffers (het groepsrisico) inzichtelijker te maken. Uitgangspunt is een zogeheten gebiedsgerichte benadering. Het groepsrisico wordt veroorzaakt door de aanwezige gevaarlijke stoffen in een gebied, zoals bij bedrijven en tijdens het transport ervan. De nieuwe benadering maakt het groepsrisico op een kaart inzichtelijk. In de oorspronkelijke, wetenschappelijke weergave in een grafiek ontbreekt dit overzicht.

Het RIVM heeft in samenwerking met TNO twee methoden uitgewerkt om in een bepaald gebied de kans op een ongeval met een groot aantal slachtoffers (het groepsrisico) inzichtelijker te maken. Uitgangspunt is een zogeheten gebiedsgerichte benadering. Het groepsrisico wordt veroorzaakt door de aanwezige gevaarlijke stoffen in een gebied, zoals bij bedrijven en tijdens het transport ervan. De nieuwe benadering maakt het groepsrisico op een kaart inzichtelijk. In de oorspronkelijke, wetenschappelijke weergave in een grafiek ontbreekt dit overzicht.