Simply supplying more scientific information on the environment may not be enough to persuade urban planners to give greater consideration to the environment, suggests new research. The Dutch study suggests that environmental values also need to be made more important to municipal decision makers.

Millions of years ago, Africa's savannas were covered with thick, ancient forests, which disappeared and turned into the grassy ecosystems that they are today.

read more

Tightly compacted cities can increase flooding risk for local residents, but sprawling, suburban development can lead to major losses in carbon stored by the land and agricultural production. These are the conclusions of a study which explored the effects of different urbanisation patterns on vital ecosystem services.

New research has investigated the combined impact of climate change and land cover change on external household water consumption and local night-time temperatures. It estimates that a 3ºC rise in temperature combined with a high degree of urban sprawl would increase water consumption by 4,061 litres per household for the month of August due to increases in evaporation from ground surface. The study recommends full integration of land use planning and water management.

Even small areas of semi-natural vegetation, farmlands and abandoned farmlands provide important ecosystem services in urban environments. However, there is widespread loss of these non-urbanised areas (NUAs) owing to poor planning and urban sprawl. A new five-step process has now been developed that can inform effective planning to protect and enhance the value of urban green spaces.

A recent pan-European study has reviewed the factors which influence how annoyed a person feels about road traffic and aircraft noise. Among its findings, residents in terraced housing or apartments were less annoyed by road traffic noise than residents in semi-detached or detached housing.

Surveys have suggested that the public have become more annoyed by aircraft noise over recent decades. A recent study has investigated whether these results are partly caused by changes in survey methods and participants. However, no methodological issues considered could satisfactorily explain the rise in reported levels of annoyance at a given noise exposure level.

A new study has assessed the annoyance caused by a combination of noises typically found on an industrial site. The results could help improve total noise annoyance prediction models. For example, it was found that ‘broadband’ noises, which consist of a wide range of frequencies, lead to more annoyance if they are combined with a specific additional set of low frequency noises, which can lead to an overall identical noise level.

A recent pan-European study has reviewed the factors which influence how annoyed a person feels about road traffic and aircraft noise. Among its findings, residents in terraced housing or apartments were less annoyed by road traffic noise than residents in semi-detached or detached housing.

Methods for assessing the sustainability of tourist destinations have been developed. In a new Spanish study, researchers describe a framework for analysing sustainability that is designed for policymakers and tourism managers, and, as a case study, apply it to the region of Andalusia.

Climate change is likely to exacerbate the urban heat island (UHI) effect. A new study has therefore examined possible climate change adaptation measures that can alleviate the UHI effect and illustrated how these strategies can be practically applied. While the study provides real-life examples to demonstrate how the measures can be used, it does not include any quantitative assessment of their impacts.

The ecological impacts of micro wind turbines (up to 50 kW) are treated in a diverse way by different local authorities in the UK during the planning approval process, research suggests. The study calls for ecologists, policymakers, planners and industry representatives to improve the integration of ecological information within planning, and for greater guidance for local authorities on the ecological considerations of micro-turbines.

Marine biodiversity conservation in the north-east Atlantic needs a combination of more adaptable management strategies and international co-operation, a new study says. This is required to deal with a potential increase in marine conservation hotspots under climate change.

The development of future recycling technologies must be informed by data about products and materials that will enter the waste stream, but such forecasts are subject to a high level of uncertainty. In this study, researchers have proposed a methodology for predicting emerging waste materials, applying it to silicon-based photovoltaic (PV) panels. The findings show that closed-loop recycling — when post-consumer waste is recycled to make new products — of PV panel materials could mitigate up to 0.2% of the annual environmental impact of Flanders1, Belgium, if suitable technology was developed.

How best to integrate the ecosystem services concept into regional planning? A recent study provides a practical example for an area in Germany that is faced with an increased risk of soil erosion under climate change. Researchers used a decision-support system incorporating ecosystem services to show that measures to reduce soil losses could also support a number of other services.

A framework to value marine and coastal zone ecosystem services, which acknowledges but transcends monetary value, has been proposed by researchers. Using this approach, coastal managers can integrate the different values placed on ecosystem goods and services by various stakeholders to assess how these values affect planning decisions.

To everything there is a season -- even divorce, new research from University of Washington sociologists concludes.

read more

New research on a major UK airport (Heathrow) has estimated that a night-time ban on flights could produce up to £860 million (1 billion euros) in financial savings over a 20 year period. Economic costs caused by the ban could be outweighed by savings from reduced health costs of sleep disturbance and stress caused by the noise of night flights.

A new study into the impact of railway noise has revealed that it is not just the level of noise that contributes to annoyance for local residents, but also the number of trains and the vibrations they cause. As railway transport is likely to increase in coming years, plans are needed to reduce these effects.

Car use could be reduced through careful urban planning, according to the results of a new German study. By combining data on driving behaviour and high-resolution satellite imagery, the researchers show how patterns of land and car use are connected.

Only three EU Member States – the UK, Germany and the Netherlands - have explicit legislation for monitoring the economic, social and environmental impacts of marine activities. This legislation embraces Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP), a promising tool to improve decision-making on the planning of human activities at sea.

A new tool to help planners choose urban designs that positively influence flows of energy, carbon, water and pollutants in cities is presented in a recent study. It is designed to integrate scientific knowledge into the planning process and support cities in achieving sustainability objectives.

A pilot Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) project in the UK has found MSP to be a useful approach in managing marine waters sustainably. Sharing the knowledge and experiences gained in developing the Shetland Islands’ Marine Spatial Plan (SMSP) can help other authorities in the process of developing similar plans, says the project team.

The complexity of environmental issues and a lack of co-operation or shared objectives between parties involved in urban planning are preventing promotion of environmental sustainability, a new study suggests. The Finnish research, based on focus groups with 32 professionals in urban planning and environmental sustainability, suggests that the short-term economic goals of local authorities, the complexity of environmental sustainability, and a lack of co-operation between different decision-making groups in urban planning were creating barriers to achieving sustainability.

Approximately 1000 km2 of agricultural or natural land is lost every year in the EU due to land-use change. When this occurs close to residential areas, it can lead to conflict with local people. This study explored the views of local people in Romania, and compared them to experts. The authors discuss similarities and differences, and say that participation, where both locals and experts communicate, is key to developing effective land use policies.

For successful implementation of the Water Framework Directive, local planners will need specific targets, guidance on interpretation, and adequate resources to monitor progress, according to a recent study from Sweden.

Eight key features for increasing the climate change resilience of water management and spatial planning projects are presented by new Dutch research. These include: focusing on the long term, integrating the projects with other sustainability measures and encouraging stakeholder participation.

Funding for scientists, planners and inspectors should be available before any shale gas development begins, a new review recommends. As revenue for such staff is often provided by the development itself, planning, which is vital to provide immediate environmental protection as well as monitoring long-term impacts, is neglected. The researchers also advocate the use of 'adaptive management' as a decision-making framework for this complex issue.

From rising seas to fiercer and more frequent storms, climate change effects are putting increasing pressure on coastal populations and ecosystems throughout Europe. Human activities, such as farming and land-use changes, are already in conflict with ecosystems. However, linking ecosystem services with social preferences in coastal land-use management can lead to more sustainable resource planning, finds a new study. The researchers developed guidelines for a participatory climate change adaptation process, which integrates the social effects of adaptation measures with the ecosystem services that they affect.

More adaptive approaches to planning could help policymakers deal with deep uncertainties about the future of our planet. Researchers have developed a method for adaptive planning which they suggest could protect against failure when future predictions turn out to be inaccurate. They illustrate their approach using the case of water management in the Rhine Delta region of the Netherlands.

The English Channel (La Manche) is one of the world’s busiest sea areas, and management of it is a challenging task. This study reviews governance across the Channel, finding poor integration between countries, sectors, policies and research. The study also considers management in terms of the ecosystem approach and suggests that linking research between the UK and France could be key to improving marine governance.

Water-supply planning that considers the preferences of multiple stakeholders under uncertain and variable future conditions are more robust than planning decisions based on historical conditions, a recent study has stated. Using the Thames river basin in the UK as an example, the researchers present a new computer-modelling approach to assess which combinations of water-management measures best secure future water supply under a wide range of possible future conditions.

This would not impact people traveling on temporary visas like the H-1B or L1, which are typically used to bring high-skilled workers to the United States

These proposed regulations overlap and in some cases even contradict, and these issues have been flagged by global companies such as Google and IBM.

Sustainable urban planning recognises the importance of green space networks to conserve biodiversity. A recent study in China has assessed whether a development plan for Jinan City improves the city's urban green networks.

New research indicates that successful integration of conservation into local land-use planning needs a combination of regulatory measures and community values. This could be encouraged by better education on conservation, and greater collaboration between neighbouring geographical areas.

The ecological impacts of micro wind turbines (up to 50 kW) are treated in a diverse way by different local authorities in the UK during the planning approval process, research suggests. The study calls for ecologists, policymakers, planners and industry representatives to improve the integration of ecological information within planning, and for greater guidance for local authorities on the ecological considerations of micro-turbines.

Although cities are typically low in biodiversity, they can provide important refuges for native species, new research shows. Urban planning making use of green infrastructure can enhance city habitats and may help reduce the loss of biodiversity that follows urban expansion, the researchers say.

Costs of defending protected areas from poaching and other illegal activities could be reduced through spatial planning software, finds a new study. Using the tool, the researchers devised new patrol activities in central Africa which would reduce current costs of law enforcement by 35%, as well as providing more effective protection.

‘Biodiversity offset’ schemes, which aim to compensate for the loss of unspoilt habitats to development, could lead to an overall loss in biodiversity, a recent study warns. Furthermore, the researchers highlight the considerable time needed, often hundreds of years, to fully recreate an ecosystem.

Assessing threats to biodiversity is necessary for effective spatial planning and balancing sustainable development with conservation. This study details a fine-scale assessment of the effect of a range of threats to coastline habitats within a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Mediterranean Sea. The study provides an example of how local-scale assessments can contribute to national conservation policy.

The importance of seagrass meadows in supporting fisheries has been highlighted by a new study in San Simón Bay, a Natura 2000 site in Spain. The research also demonstrates the benefits of stakeholder involvement in developing management plans to balance conservation with the use of natural resources.

Results from a long-term study of fish communities in the Bay of Somme in the English Channel show that numbers of cold-water fish, such as dab and plaice, have been dropping since 1998, as sea temperatures have risen. The researchers say this is evidence of ‘tropicalisation’ in an English-Channel ecosystem. The findings may have implications for conservation policies in the Bay, which is a Marine Protected Area1 designated under the Natura 2000 programme, as well as other marine sites affected by warming.

Constructed wetlands serve as a cost-effective and multi-purpose option for storm-water treatment in urban landscapes, offering flood protection as well as wildlife habitat. However, a new study shows that when nearby land use includes industry, wetlands can accumulate high levels of pollution and potentially become toxic to wildlife. This new piece of research offers important insights for the planning and management of wetlands.

Certain chemicals that were once used as flame retardants are now banned in the EU, but can remain in the environment. A new study adds to our limited knowledge regarding the presence of the chemicals polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) in humans. The study suggests levels in Polish and Ukrainian men are lower than in those living in the US and Greenland.

The contamination of hazardous substances in estuaries can have negative effects on biodiversity. Using experimentally supported indicators, this study analysed the environmental risks posed by 22 different contaminants in UK estuaries and coastal waters, finding that substances banned over 20 years ago continue to persist in the marine environment.

Research has found evidence for recent contamination of Lake Como, northern Italy, with chemicals banned in the EU since the 1970s. Levels of DDT and PCBs in sediment, aquatic microorganisms and fish were examined. The results suggest glacial meltwater as a source for renewed DDT contamination and show recent contamination of fish above safe levels. The findings demonstrate the need for continued monitoring of persistent organic pollutants in European waters.