Architecture Commons^™

Spatial And Temporal Trends In Travel For Covid-19 Vaccinations, Abigail L. Cochran, Jueyu Wang, Mary Wolfe, Evan Iacobucci, Emma Vinella-Brusher, Noreen C. Mcdonald

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Highlights : Disparities in distances people traveled for vaccinations by demographics exist. Males and White people traveled longer distances for vaccination appointments. Travel distances of over 10 miles for vaccination likely required motorized transportation.

Introduction: Understanding spatial and temporal trends in travel for COVID-19 vaccinations by key demographic characteristics (i.e., gender, race, age) is important for ensuring equitable access to and increasing distribution efficiency of vaccines and other health services. The aim of this study is to examine trends in travel distance for COVID-19 vaccinations over the course of the vaccination rollout in North Carolina.

Methods: Data were collected using …

Machine Learning Approach For Automated Detection Of Irregular Walking Surfaces For Walkability Assessment With Wearable Sensor, Hui R. Ng, Isidore Sossa, Yunwoo Nam, Jong-Hoon Youn

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The walkability of a neighborhood impacts public health and leads to economic and environmental benefits. The condition of sidewalks is a significant indicator of a walkable neighborhood as it supports and encourages pedestrian travel and physical activity. However, common sidewalk assessment practices are subjective, inefficient, and ineffective. Current alternate methods for objective and automated assessment of sidewalk surfaces do not consider pedestrians’ physiological responses. We developed a novel classification framework for the detection of irregular walking surfaces that uses a machine learning approach to analyze gait parameters extracted from a single wearable accelerometer. We also identified the most suitable location …

Characteristic Analysis Of The Built Environment Of Ferry Terminals: A Case Study Of Mokpo, South Korea, Hwayoung Kim, Jungyeon Choi, Yunwoo Nam, Jong-Hoon Youn

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Ferry terminals are an essential facility for those frequently commuting between islands or towns ashore. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure a smooth and efficient flow of passengers and vehicles while guaranteeing safety and convenience at the ferry terminal. This study investigates and evaluates the walking path environment and determines the passengers’ walkability and walking satisfaction of ferry terminals in Korea. As a case study, to measure the passenger’s overall perception and satisfaction of the built environment of the ferry terminal, we conducted an importance–performance analysis for two ferry terminals located in Mokpo city of Korea. The segments of the …

Maps Of Cropping Patterns In China During 2015–2021, Bingwen Qiu, Xiang Hu, Chongcheng Chen, Zhenghong Tang, Peng Yang, Xiaolin Zhu, Chao Yan, Zeyu Jian

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Multiple cropping is a widespread approach for intensifying crop production through rotations of diverse crops. Maps of cropping intensity with crop descriptions are important for supporting sustainable agricultural management. As the most populated country, China ranked first in global cereal production and the percentages of multiple-cropped land are twice of the global average. However, there are no reliable updated national-scale maps of cropping patterns in China. Here we present the first recent annual 500-m MODIS-based national maps of multiple cropping systems in China using phenologybased mapping algorithms with pixel purity-based thresholds, which provide information on cropping intensity with descriptions of …

Transportation Barriers To Care Among Frequent Health Care Users During The Covid Pandemic, Abigail L. Cochran, Noreen C. Mcdonald, Lauren Prunkl, Emma Vinella‑Brusher, Jueyu Wang, Lindsay Oluyede, Mary Wolfe

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Background: Transportation problems are known barriers to health care and can result in late arrivals and delayed or missed care. Groups already prone to greater social and economic disadvantage, including low-income individuals and people with chronic conditions, encounter more transportation barriers and experience greater negative health care consequences. Addressing transportation barriers is important not only for mitigating adverse health care outcomes among patients, but also for avoiding additional costs to the health care system. In this study, we investigate transportation barriers to accessing health care services during the COVID-19 pandemic among high-frequency health care users.

Methods: A web-based survey was …

Using The Electromagnetic Induction Survey Method To Examine The Depth To Clay Soil Layer (Bt Horizon) In Playa Wetlands, Yuan Xue, Zhenghong Tang, Qiao Hu, Jeff Drahota

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Purpose Sediment accumulation has been and continues to be a significant threat to the integrity of the playa wetland ecosystem. The purpose of this study was to determine the vertical depth to the clay soil layer (Bt horizon) and thus to calculate the thickness of sediments accumulated in playa wetlands.

Materials and methods This study used the electromagnetic induction (EMI) survey method, specifically EM38-MK2 equipment, to measure the vertical depth to the clay soil layer at the publicly managed wetlands in the Rainwater Basin, Nebraska, USA.

Results and discussion The results indicated that the depth to the clay soil layer …

How Cropland Losses Shaped By Unbalanced Urbanization Process?, Bingwen Qiu, Haiwen Li, Zhenghong Tang, Chongcheng Chen, Joe Berry

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Urbanization has widely known to directly consume swaths of cropland worldwide. Knowledge on what kinds of urbanization processes spared cropland is important for land use planning. This study offered insights on the impact of city level (city hierarchy: from the 1st to the 6th Tier cities) and urbanization modes (mega-city, city, town and village modes) on cropland losses through a first-ever continuous national survey on 345 prefectural level cities or above in mainland China from 2003 to 2016. We found that higher tier cities were associated with more direct and severe losses. Specifically, over 80% of the recent urbanization formed …

Long-Term Changes Of Open-Surface Water Bodies In The Yangtze River Basin Based On The Google Earth Engine Cloud Platform, Yue Deng, Wei-Guo Jiang, Zhenghong Tang, Ziyan Ling, Zhifeng Wu

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The spatiotemporal changes of open-surface water bodies in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) have profound influences on sustainable economic development, and are also closely relevant to water scarcity in China. However, long-term changes of open-surface water bodies in the YRB have remained poorly characterized. Taking advantage of the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud platform, this study processed 75,593 scenes of Landsat images to investigate the long-term changes of open-surface water bodies in the YRB from 1984 to 2018. In this study, we adopted the percentile-based image composite method to collect training samples and proposed a multiple index water detection rule …

(Mis)Communicating With Geographic Information System Mapping: Part 1--Choosing Units Of Representation, Rodrigo Cantarero, Maria Deguzman, Sarah Taylor, Soo-Young Hong, Jeong-Kyun Choi

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Extension professionals are increasingly using geographic information system (GIS) technology to develop and inform programs and services. In this article, we use a mapping exercise to demonstrate how the unit of data can be applied and inadvertently misrepresented in GIS mapping. We contrast the use of counts, percentages, and location quotients with the same data and the resulting divergence in maps. The discussion addresses ideal circumstances for using each unit of data. Overall, the article illustrates the need for Extension professionals to be cognizant of the benefits and limitations of various units of data to avoid miscommunication when using GIS …

Detection Of Linkage Between Solar And Lunar Cycles And Runoff Of The World's Large Rivers, Zhijun Dai, Jinzhou Du, Zhenghong Tang, Suying Ou, Samuel Brody, Xuefei Mei, Jietai Jing, Shoubing Yu

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

It is an ongoing concern that global hydrological cycle can be likely intensified under context of climate change and anthropogenic actions. Here, our results show that the solar and lunar periodic motions (SLPMs) have substantial impact on the runoff of the world's large rivers. We estimate that SLPMs can produce a change of the world's large rivers runoff by as much as 6.7%. Although climate models suggest that the increased frequency of extreme events is attributed to anthropogenic activities, it is out of our expectation that as much as 73% and 85% of the extreme flood and drought events (based …

(Mis)Communicating With Geographic Information System Mapping: Part 2—Determining Data Cutoffs, Rodrigo Cantarero, Maria Deguzman, Sarah Taylor, Soo-Young Hong, Jeong-Kyun Choi

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The increasing use of geographic information system (GIS) technology in various fields suggests the need for professionals, including those in Extension, to be mindful of communicating data accurately and effectively. This article examines approaches to creating classes or groupings within data as well as the weaknesses of each approach. Data break units discussed in the article include equal intervals, quantiles, and units resulting from natural breaks. Ideal situations for each type of data break are presented. The article emphasizes the need for Extension professionals to consider the effects of data grouping to avoid miscommunication when using GIS mapping.

Safe, Efficient Self‐Driving Cars Could Block Walkable, Livable Communities, Daniel P. Piatkowski

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

As a driver and a cyclist, I initially welcomed the idea of self-driving cars that could detect nearby people and be programmed not to hit them, making the streets safer for everyone. Autonomous vehicles also seemed to provide attractive ways to use roads more efficiently and reduce the need for parking in our communities. People are certainly talking about how self-driving cars could help build more sustainable, livable, walkable and bikable communities. But as an urban planner and transportation scholar who, like most people in my field, has paid close attention to the discussion around driverless cars, I have come …

Assessing Hazard Vulnerability, Habitat Conservation, And Restoration For The Enhancement Ofmainland China’S Coastal Resilience, Muhammad Sajjad, Yangfan Li, Zhenghong Tang, Ling Cao, Xiaoping Liu

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Worldwide, humans are facing high risks from natural hazards, especially in coastal regions with high population densities. Rising sea levels due to global warming are making coastal communities’ infrastructure vulnerable to natural disasters. The present study aims to provide a coupling approach of vulnerability and resilience through restoration and conservation of lost or degraded coastal natural habitats to reclamation under different climate change scenarios. The integrated valuation of ecosystems and tradeoffs model is used to assess the current and future vulnerability of coastal communities. The model employed is based on seven different biogeophysical variables to calculate a natural hazard index …

An Examination Of Midwestern Us Cities’ Preparedness For Climate Change And Extreme Hazards, Qiao Hu, Zhenghong Tang, Martha Shulski, Natalie Umphlett, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Frank E. Uhlarik

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The increasing occurrence of extreme weather and climate events raised concerns in regard to hazard mitigation and climate adaptation. Local municipal planning mechanisms play a fundamental role in increasing a community’s capacity toward long-term resiliency. This study employs the content analysis method to evaluate the 95 selected cities located in the US Federal Emergency Management Agency Region VII and examine how these local plans, including local comprehensive plans (CPs), hazard mitigation plans (HMPs), and local emergency operations plans (EOPs), prepare communities for climate change and possible extreme events. Results indicate that local plans delineated multiple resources and diverse strategies to …

A Multi-Scale Spatiotemporal Modeling Approach To Explore Vegetation Dynamics Patterns Under Global Climate Change, Bingwen Qiu, Zhuangzhuang Wang, Zhenghong Tang, Zhe Liu, Difei Lu, Chongcheng Chen, Nan Chen

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Given the complexity of vegetation dynamic patterns under global climate change, multi-scale spatiotemporal explicit models are necessary in order to account for environmental heterogeneity. However, there is no efficient time-series tool to extract, reconstruct and analyze the multi-scale vegetation dynamic patterns under global climate change. To fill this gap, a Multi-Scale Spatio-Temporal Modeling (MSSTM) framework which can incorporate the pixel, scale, and time-specific heterogeneity was proposed. The MSSTM method was defined on proper time-series models for multitemporal components through wavelet transforms. The proposed MSSTM approach was applied to a subtropical mountainous and hilly agro-forestry ecosystem in southeast China using the …

Automated Cropping Intensity Extraction From Isolines Of Wavelet Spectra, Bingwen Qiu, Zhuangzhuang Wang, Zhenghong Tang, Chongcheng Chen, Zhanling Fan, Weijiao Li

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Timely and accurate monitoring of cropping intensity (CI) is essential to help us understand changes in food production. This paper aims to develop an automatic Cropping Intensity extraction method based on the Isolines of Wavelet Spectra (CIIWS) with consideration of intra- class variability. The CIIWS method involves the following procedures: (1) characterizing vegetation dynamics from time–frequency dimensions through a continuous wavelet transform performed on vegetation index temporal profiles; (2) deriving three main features, the skeleton width, maximum number of strong brightness centers and the intersection of their scale intervals, through computing a series of wavelet isolines from the wavelet spectra; …

Spatial-Temporal Pattern Of Vegetation Index Change And The Relationship To Land Surface Temperature In Zoige, Zheng Chen, Wei-Guo Jiang, Zhenghong Tang, K. Jia

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The Zoige wetland is the largest alpine peat wetland in China, and it has been degrading since 1960s. MODIS Enhance Vegetation Index (EVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) products in late august from 2000 to 2014 were employed to explore vegetation index and land surface temperature change tendency and to perform Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI). The correlation between the annual mean of EVI and annual mean of LST was also calculated at pixel scale. The main purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between wetland degradation and climate change. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Average …

Evaluating The Vegetation Recovery In The Damage Area Of Wenchuan Earthquake Using Modis Data, Wei-Guo Jiang, Kai Jia, Jian-Jun Wu, Zhenghong Tang, Wen-Jie Wang, Xiao-Fu Liu

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The catastrophic 8.0 Richter magnitude earthquake that occurred on 12 May 2008 in Wenchuan, China caused extensive damage to vegetation due to widespread landslides and debris flows. In the past five years, the Chinese government has implemented a series of measures to restore the vegetation in the severely afflicted area. How is the vegetation recovering? It is necessary and important to evaluate the vegetation recovery effect in earthquake-stricken areas. Based on MODIS NDVI data from 2005 to 2013, the vegetation damage area was extracted by the quantified threshold detection method. The vegetation recovery rate after five years following the earthquake …

Accounting For The Short Term Substitution Effects Of Walking And Cycling In Sustainable Transportation, Daniel P. Piatkowski, Kevin J. Krizek, Susan L. Handy

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The environmental benefits of bicycling and walking depend on the degree to which their use substitutes for car driving. Assuming that every walking and bicycling trip replaces a driving trip is likely to produce overestimates of the potential for such modes to reduce vehicle travel and city-scale greenhouse gas emissions. Measuring this ‘‘substitution effect’’ is not straightforward. There are many dimensions of the substitution effect, including trip type, substituting mode, extent, time horizon, and activity patterns. Previously used approaches to measure substitution include indirect inference and direct questioning. This study piloted an intercept survey using the direct questioning approach at …

Drought Planning Research In The United States: An Overview And Outlook, Xinyu Fu, Zhenghong Tang, Jianjun Wu, Kevin Mcmillan

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Drought is widely known as an insidious hazard due to its complex and unique characteristics. Drought disasters have brought tremendous economic losses and significant social and environmental impacts to communities across the globe. To further understand the hazard drought poses and provide insights into planning for drought preparedness, this article conducts a thorough literature review of drought hazard and drought planning frameworks within the United States. Two main approaches and three major forms of drought planning are discussed and summarized. Based on this review, a preliminary overview of drought planning status in the United States is presented. This study provides …

Developing A Restorable Wetland Index For Rainwater Basin Wetlands In South-Central Nebraska: A Multi-Criteria Spatial Analysis, Zhenghong Tang, Xu Li, Nan Zhao, Ruopu Li, F. Edwin Harvey

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

It is always challenging for decision makers to prioritize wetland conservation programs at the landscape scale. This study employed a GIS-based multi-criteria spatial decision support tool that identified locations with the highest restoration potential for wetland conservation programs in the Rainwater Basin in south-central Nebraska. Five indicators were considered to assess wetland restoration potential: (1) Vegetation characteristics; (2) Soil characteristics; (3) Water volume released from hydrological modification of agricultural irrigation pits; (4) Topographical depression status; and (5) Habitat condition. The results suggested 192 (1.6% of the total) hydric soil footprints as the highest prioritized locations for future wetland restoration programs. …

Developing A Drought Planning Evaluation System In The United States, Mark D. Svoboda, Zhenghong Tang

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Drought is a normal part of the climate cycle, affecting every climate regime on the planet. Drought indicates a special period in which an unusual moisture scarcity causes a serious hydrological imbalance. Drought is related to the timing and effectiveness of the rains, high temperature, high wind, and low humidity. The typical impacts of drought may include dry lands, low or empty water-supply reservoirs, low groundwater levels (dried up wells), crop damage, and ensuing environmental degradation. In the United States, drought accounts for losses in the billions of dollars. In fact, a FEMA (1995) report estimates the average annual losses …

Perceptions Of The Quality Of Life Among Residents Of Crete, Nebraska, James J. Potter, Rodrigo Cantarero, Christopher Hussey

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Crete, Nebraska, is on the cutting edge of a global economy in which people are migrating to places that offer jobs and a better quality of life. Between 2000 and 2008, the population of Crete rose from 6,028 to 6,241, an increase of3.5%. In the year 2001, when the initial study was conducted, Crete's local Farmland pork processing plant increased its workforce from 1,200 to 1,650. In today's economy, these 450 new jobs are likely to attract workers from around the world. In recent years, for example, workers have come to Crete from Vietnam, Korea, Laos, Croatia, Serbia, Iraq, and …

Moving From Agenda To Action: Evaluating Local Climate Change Action Plans, Zhenghong Tang, Samuel D. Brody, Courtney E. Quinn, Liang Chang, Ting Wei

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Climate change is conventionally recognized as a large-scale issue resolved through regional or national policy initiatives. However, little research has been done to directly evaluate local climate change action plans. This study examines 40 recently adopted local climate change action plans in the US and analyzes how well they recognize the concepts of climate change and prepare for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The results indicate that local climate change action plans have a high level of “awareness”, moderate “analysis capabilities” for climate change, and relatively limited “action approaches” for climate change mitigation. The study also identifies specific factors influencing …

Assessing Local Land Use Planning’S Awareness, Analysis, And Actions For Climate Change, Zhenghong Tang, Christopher M. Hussey, Ting Wei

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to extend the previous larger-scale climate policy studies to the local jurisdiction level to evaluate local land use planning capacity for climate change.
Design/methodology/approach: This paper evaluated 53 recently developed local comprehensive land use plans in California and analyzes how well these plans recognized the concepts of climate change and prepared for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Findings: The descriptive results show that local land use plans reflect very low awareness and little analysis for climate change; however, the actions for climate change varied widely in scope and content in their plans.
Originality/value: …

Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Local Land Use Planning, Zhenghong Tang, Christopher Hussey

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Land use and land use planning have profound implications for greenhouse gas emission (GHG). Local land use planning is well suited to play a critical leadership role in addressing the effects of climate change by encouraging change in development patterns to reduce GHG emissions and their impacts. Although some studies have begun to discuss the role of local land use planning in climate change, little research has been conducted to determine how to convert the concepts of climate change into local land use planning tools and empirically integrate climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies into local land use planning. The …

Measuring Tsunami Planning Capacity On U.S. Pacific Coast, Zhenghong Tang, Michael K. Lindell, Carla S. Prater, Samuel D. Brody

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Abstract: The U.S. Pacific coastal states are at risk from both locally and distantly generated tsunamis. This vulnerability can be reduced by effective hazard management plans, but no studies have been conducted to determine how local jurisdictions have incorporated tsunami hazard management into their planning frameworks. This paper analyzes the quality of hazard management plans from 43 coastal counties in these states. Plan quality was measured by a plan evaluation protocol defined by five components and 37 indicators. The results show that few Pacific coastal counties have prepared well for tsunamis. Most plans have a weak factual basis, unclear goals …

Linking Planning Theories With Factors Influencing Local Environmental-Plan Quality, Zhenghong Tang

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The major planning theories provide a theoretical foundation for environmental planning. This study extends the major planning theories and develops a robust conceptual framework to measure the key factors influencing local environmental-plan quality. A random sample of forty Californian local comprehensive land-use plans and associated planning processes is analyzed to identify the critical factors influencing environmental-plan quality. Results from multiple regression analysis indicate that regular updating, environmental-information management and sharing, and planners contribute significantly to local environmental-plan quality. The findings expand established planning theories and practice by suggesting ways to improve local environmental-plan quality.

Evaluating Local Coastal Zone Land Use Planning Capacities In California, Zhenghong Tang

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Local jurisdictions’ coastal zone land use plans play an important role in protecting critical coastal resources and ensuring coastal communities’ sustainable development. This study extends the previous national and regional measurement systems to local coastal zone land use planning. This study evaluates 46 California local jurisdictions’ coastal zone land use plans and analyzes the factors influencing local coastal zone land use planning capacities. The descriptive results show that planning quality varied widely in scope and content, and did not fully utilize available coastal management tools and mechanisms to influence local development patterns. The regression results further highlight the influence of …

Evaluating California Local Land Use Plan’S Environmental Impact Reports, Zhenghong Tang, Elise Bright, Samuel Brody

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Local land use planning has profound impacts on environmental quality; however, few empirical studies have been conducted to systematically measure local land use plans’ environmental assessment quality and to identify the factors influencing it. This paper analyzes the quality of 40 Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) of local jurisdictions’ land use plans in California. A plan evaluation protocol defined by five core components and sixty-three indicators is developed to measure the quality of local land use plans’ EIRs. The descriptive results indicate that the local jurisdictions produce relatively good quality on its EIRs, but there is still much room for improvement. …