urban sustainability
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Abstract : The importance of research has emerged by focusing on sustainable green zone planning to solve the problem of degradation through sustainable strategies, to make green areas determine buildings, not the other way around using GIS, by working on a hypothesis (green areas planning according to an appropriate strategy can sustain cities). The principle of urban planning, urban sustainability, sustainable planning and sustainable cities, as well as urban sustainability and many strategies that support green zone planning and rely on a number of factors for sustainable cities, have been addressed. The research was based on how to plan green areas sustainably, what constraints the planners face in the Dora area south of Baghdad, and the reasons for their deterioration in the urban environment, and after analysing and comparing the changes that occurred over three periods of time (2004 and 2009 and 2019) for 10 residential stores to assess the state of the green areas during that period and how they changed, what problems led to the reduction of areas, increased areas built at their expense, compared to the standards of urban and rural housing in Iraq and the basic plan of the company Paul Servis in 1971, Sustainable planning thus creates a balance in the environment, economy and social values so that these new places meet the work and life needs of the local population and their interests, as one of the indicators of sustainable cities environmental, social and economic, measured by the availability of green and preserved areas relative to population density and coverage, which are one of the most important components of the blocs of urban areas to continue the quality of urban life and environmental and social sustainability, and the ratio of green areas to areas built in a sample of the shop Housing in the study area is very few in most stores and is not in line with international standards, so the current standards need to be adjusted and increased from what they are now, as well as laws in general need to be updated because they are in their current state to achieve the sustainability of green areas in the study area. The most important proposals and solutions that address the problems of green areas (developing a specific strategy, developing some laws on the protection of green areas and setting environmental performance standards for green areas). The research recommended the need to review the planning standard for the individual’s share of green spaces as it does not correspond to the increase in population density, and to guide the pursuit of sustainable strategies within the plans prepared by the long-term municipal departments supporting green areas and work to support environmental performance within municipal circles by presenting the award for outstanding environmental performance on conservation capacity and increasing green spaces, urging a focus on the sustainability of Iraqi cities as they suffer from increased desertification and dredging of green areas and current climate change.

Natural disasters adversely affect urban built-up areas all over the world. Flood is the most destructive natural disaster that affects Ratnapura, the provincial capital of the Sabaragamuwa Province in Sri Lanka. This monsoonal flooding is a prolonged problem that arises mainly due to the overspill of River Kalu and other water bodies connected to the river during heavy rainy seasons. It causes short-term and long-term damages to human lives, properties, the economy, and the environment. Floods cause severe damages to private residential buildings. Hence, the availability of a flood resilience plan is a significant feature of the good governance of the Local Authorities. There are many factors to consider when preparing a flood resilience plan. This study aims to assess the factors affecting the effectiveness of the existing flood resilience plan in the Ratnapura Municipal Council Area. The main data instrument used is a questionnaire survey from residents in the flood-prone area. It assessed the effectiveness of actions taken by the government pre-disaster, during a disaster, and post-disaster. Various factors affecting the flood resilience plan were identified and categorized: community resilience, economic resilience, ecological resilience, emergency readiness and responsiveness, infrastructure resilience, and social and cultural resilience. Findings revealed that the respondents were more satisfied with emergency readiness and responsiveness out of the five main categories. In addition, respondents address the effectiveness of the existing flood resilience plan and its affected factors like community resilience, economic resilience, emergency readiness and responsiveness, infrastructure resilience and social, and cultural resilience. Findings will be helpful for town planners and the Municipal Council of Ratnapura to identify flood resilience strategies through community perspectives to mitigate the flood hazard and propose innovative strategies to achieve urban sustainability and build resilient communities.

Discussions about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and urban sustainability can help in the search for elucidating urban problems, considering the imprecision and conflicts that orbit around the debate on urban sustainability and the term sustainable development. This debate can contribute to future actions and proposals for urban public policies. Thus, the objective was to discuss Objective 11 of the 2030 Agenda, which deals with Sustainable Cities and Communities, from the perspective of collaborating with the debate on urban sustainability, based on the case study of Mossoró (RN). As a methodological procedure, documental and bibliographical research was carried out, around themes such as urban sustainability, sustainable development, and the 2030 Agenda, aiming to raise a theoretical reflection on these themes. Primary sources were researched in public archives of the Municipality of Mossoró and academic websites. In addition, 70 questionnaires were applied together to students and public servants of  Mossoro's public  university . It was found that the city only fulfills its social function when it guarantees its inhabitants, habitation; circulation, leisure; work, accessibility, education, and health. The challenges to thinking about sustainable cities are numerous and, on the other hand, the solutions are in place, and, therefore, the admission of public policies aligned with the production and adoption of technologies for sustainable cities is the possible path.

With the continuous improvement and deepened reform of institutional mechanisms in resource-based cities (RBCs) in China, mining areas have become significant urban brownfields with typical geological hazards that cause serious pollution and other disasters like landslides and subsidence. Therefore, the governance of mining areas becomes a grant challenge for local governments to sustain urban development, and different governance approaches could result in diverse effects on urban sustainability, which have not been studied in current research. In the last twenty years, the governance model of mining areas in RBCs in China can be classified into government governance model (GGM), joint governance model (JGM), and market governance model (MGM). Based on the traditional theories, we innovatively propose a structural measurement and mechanism analysis of mine management efficiency from the perspective of residents’ perceptions by designing structural equation modeling (SEM) for spatial distribution issues. The main objective is to disclose the comparative advantages of three different mine governance models and the prerequisites and considerations for the application of the three governance models in the institutional environment with Chinese characteristics, in addition to the answers of pros and cons of the three types of governance models. We find: (1) the GGM plays a necessary, positive, and effective role in guiding the governance process, and has a high level of resident satisfaction in relation to the public interest of the masses, but a problem is that the favorable groups in the implementation process mainly include the middle and senior officers. (2) The JGM as a transition and supplement to the GGM, and many large serious governance problems that cannot be solved by the GGM are reasonably solved by JGM. Lastly (3), the MGM is very different from the above two governance models, as it just concentrates on the governance of storage, transportation, and public lands within mining areas that are directly relevant to enterprises’ benefits. It indicates the urgent reforming needs of current governance models for efficient governance by integrating government, enterprise, and local communities.