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Urban artificial surfaces and structures induce modifications in land–atmosphere interactions, affecting the exchange of energy, momentum, and substances. These modifications stimulate urban climate formation by altering the values and dynamics of atmospheric parameters, including cloud-related features. This study evaluates the presence and quantifies the extent of such changes over Sofia, Bulgaria. The findings reveal that estimations of low-level cloud base height (CBH) derived from lifting condensation level (LCL) calculations may produce unexpected outcomes due to microclimate influence. Ceilometer data indicate that the CBH of low-level clouds over urban areas exceeds that of surrounding regions by approximately 200 m during warm months and afternoon hours. Moreover, urban clouds exhibit reduced persistence relative to rural counterparts, particularly pronounced in May, June, and July afternoons. Reanalysis-derived low-level cloud cover (LCC) shows no significant disparities between urban and rural areas, although increased LCC is observed above the western and northern city boundaries. Satellite-derived cloud products reveal that the optically thinnest low-level clouds over urban areas exhibit slightly higher cloud tops, but the optically thickest clouds are more prevalent during warm months. These findings suggest an influence of urbanization on cloudiness, albeit nuanced and potentially influenced by the city size and surrounding physical and geographical features.

Abstract This study aims at assessing the impact of compost application on the physical (porosity, volumetric-moisture and bulk density) and the chemical traits of soil (pH, organic carbon, electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity and soil nutrients) on the leaf nutrient concentration and growth (height, diameter, new leaf-structures and chlorophyll content) of five native species used in urban forestry. Using a two-way factorial design, we evaluated three substrates: i) Soil (ii) Soil-compost mixture SC-12.5 (12.5 % compost (v/v)) (iii) Soil-compost mixture SC-25 (25 % compost (v/v)) and five species: Retrophyllum rospigliosii, Inga edulis, Citharexylum montanum, Caesalpinia spinosa, and Citharexylum sulcatum. We found that SC-25 and SC-12.5 increased the electric conductivity, cation exchange capacity, organic carbon, and soil base saturation. Moreover, compost addition increased the growth of the five native species evaluated. Such results suggest that compost-application is a viable option to improve soil fertility and promote the growth of native trees.

The article is a review of the part of the research conducted in the framework of the grant of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research “Urban well-being of people with disabilities”. The immediate subject of the article is professional self-realization as a factor of urban well-being of a person with a disability. Well-being is understood as a subjectively constructed phenomenon, that is, through the prism of people with disabilities’ own perceptions of the sufficiency of conditions created in the urban environment for their professional self-realization and, as a consequence, for well-being in general. Professional self-realization has become one of the six factor groups that directly or indirectly influence the urban well-being of citizens with disabilities. Along with professional self-realization, the factors of urban well-being in the framework of the study were: trust in the government and involvement in management processes; the level of implementation of basic values; psychological comfort; accessibility of the spatial environment; and finally, the quality of social services. The five factor groups listed above are not discussed in the article, but the reader should have an idea of the context in which professional self-realization is studied. The study included two sub-samples, reflecting the specifics of a megalopolis (Moscow) and a regional center (Saratov).

Širitev Evropske unije pomeni pomembno spremembo dosedanjega funkcionalnega teritorialne zgradbe Evrope. Globalne politične posledice so pretežno znane, težave, ki so hkrati priložnosti regionalnega in lokalnega razvoja, pa dobivajo stvarne razsežnosti. Predmet prispevka je podeželsko območje severovzhodne Avstrije, na katero vplivajo funkcijsko-gravitacijski suburbanizacijski učinki glavnega mesta sosednje države, kjer nastaja rastoča bratislavska aglomeracija.

As smart city development deepens, its impact on the urban-rural income gap has become a key concern for both the government and society. This article uses panel data from Chinese prefecture-level cities between 2010 and 2022, treating the pilot smart city policy as a quasi-natural experiment, and applying a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) method to empirically examine how smart city construction affects the urban-rural income gap. It also analyzes the role of economic agglomeration in this process. The research indicates that smart city development has significantly increased the incomes of urban and rural residents and has positively contributed to sharing development benefits between these areas. Mechanism analysis shows that economic agglomeration plays an important mediating and threshold role—smart cities indirectly influence the urban-rural income distribution by fostering economic agglomeration, with this effect showing nonlinear characteristics at different levels of agglomeration. Based on these findings, the article proposes policy recommendations aimed at optimizing economic agglomeration models and advancing urban-rural integrated development, offering theoretical insights and practical strategies for narrowing the income gap and promoting common prosperity.

This article presents part of the results of doctoral research focused on the contribution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s historic urban landscape approach to the theory of urban heritage management. This paper argues that the historic urban landscape approach reflects a century of evolution on theories related to urban heritage management. Moreover, it confirms that heritage management is going through a process of change both in theory and practice, from focusing on isolated built heritage assets, towards a landscape-based approach, adopting notions such as the intangible, setting and context, and urban and sustainable development. Next, this process of change is related in theory to the need for a more integrated approach towards urban heritage management, combining policies and practices on conservation with those of urban development. Furthermore, this article discusses the challenges and possible contributions of the landscape-based approach to urban heritage management. Lastly, this article pleads for the need not only to develop, but also to assess the adequacy of the tools and methods to support the implementation of such an integrated approach, because only then can the sustainable development and conservation of urban heritage be fostered.

The interaction between rail transit and the urban property market is a vital foundation for planning transit-based policy such as Value Capture and Transit Oriented Development (TOD). Yet only few studies have reported the impact of transit access on commercial property value. This paper presents empirical evidence from Wuhan, China, to enrich the knowledge in the subject area. Spatial autoregressive models were employed to estimate the commercial value capture, based on 676 observations along Wuhan's metro rail line through the main business districts. Value appreciation was discovered within the 400m radius of road network distance from Metro stations. The transit access premiums present as two tiers: 16.7% for the 0-100m core area and approximately 8.0% within the 100-400m radius. The result demonstrates the potential benefit of adopting value capture and optimising TOD planning to support sustainable urban rail transit investment. Amid rapid urbanisation in China, the evidence reported here could hep better inform cities, across the developing world and beyond, of the benefits of adopting rail transit-based policy.

Urban resilience to earthquakes is a critical concern for cities located in seismic-prone regions, where the ability to withstand, respond to, and recover from disruptive events depends on the interaction of multiple physical, social, economic, institutional, and governance-related factors. This study evaluates and explains the key dimensions influencing seismic urban resilience in Hamedan City, Iran, through an integrated multi-criteria and statistical framework. A descriptive, non-experimental survey design was employed, and data were collected using a structured questionnaire from managers and experts affiliated with the Hamedan Provincial Construction Engineering Organization, Fire Department, Crisis Management Organization, and emergency relief agencies. Of 410 distributed questionnaires, 351 valid responses were obtained. Eight dimensions of urban resilience were examined: functional, legal and formal, spatial, structural, economic, physical–environmental, institutional, and social. The reliability of the measurement instrument was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha, while normality tests and one-sample t-tests were used for preliminary statistical assessment. The TODIM multi-criteria decision-making method was then applied to determine the relative importance of the resilience dimensions, and bootstrapping was used to assess ranking stability. In addition, an ordinary least squares multivariate regression model was estimated to quantify the contribution of each dimension to overall urban resilience. TODIM results identified the functional dimension as the highest-ranked factor (0.184), followed by the spatial (0.171) and legal and formal (0.165) dimensions. Regression analysis showed that all eight dimensions had positive and statistically significant effects on urban resilience, with the strongest effects observed for the economic (β = 0.797), physical–environmental (β = 0.723), and spatial (β = 0.664) dimensions. The model was statistically significant (F = 98.72, p < 0.001) and explained 61.2% of the variance in overall urban resilience (R² = 0.612). The findings demonstrate that urban resilience is a multidimensional and interdependent phenomenon and that effective resilience planning requires the simultaneous strengthening of operational capacity, spatial organization, economic resources, infrastructure, governance mechanisms, and social and institutional capacities. The proposed framework provides evidence-based guidance for prioritizing interventions, allocating resources, and improving earthquake preparedness, response, and recovery in Hamedan and other earthquake-prone cities.