Zenodo: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4301952

Description

The datasets provide a typology for 689 European urban areas, the land cover metrics and landscape metrics used to create the typology and the Urban Forest Ecosystem Services (UFES) indexes created from them.

The typology of Urban Forest Ecosystem Services (UFES) presents 10 clusters of cities aggregated into 4 groups: Forest cities (F1-4), Anthropogenic cities (A1-3), Herbaceous cities (H1-2) and Standard European cities (E1). The data can be used to support urban planning policies at local and regional scales; in urban forestry, urban form and ecosystem services work-related at different spatial scales. The metrics used capture the spatial integration of different layers of natural, semi-natural and artificial land within functional urban areas.

The data refers to the article under revision “Urban Forests Ecosystems in Europe: Types and Ranking of Cities”

Abstract

Air pollution is of increasing concern to urban residents and urban planners are struggling to find interventions which tackle the trade‐off between environmental, health, and economic impacts arising from this. We analyze within a spatially explicit theoretical residential choice model how different urban interventions can reduce exposure to endogenous traffic‐induced air pollution at residential locations. We model a city of fixed population size, where households are averse to localized pollution and examine how a flat commuting tax, an urban growth boundary, a cordon toll, and the optimal distance‐based tax compare to an urban scenario without any planner’s intervention. We find that an urban intervention to optimally address exposure concerns needs to achieve steep density gradients near the urban fringe and flat gradients near the center. We show the deficiencies of the alternative interventions to achieve optimal population distributions within the city and in a scenario where peoples’ aversion to pollution increases. We then discuss these interventions in light of resulting spatial patterns of exposure and spatial equity that is households’ assessment of their own exposure to air pollution relative to their responsibility for the exposure of others depending on their spatial location within the city. Our results show that, when equity is also a concern, compensations are needed from households who live in the periphery and our simulations suggest that a cordon toll can then achieve a more balanced outcome.

https://doi.org/10.1111/gean.12288

Cet article analyse les principales dimensions spatiales et socioprofessionnelles des travailleurs frontaliers aux différentes frontières de la France, notamment au sein des pôles d’emploi transfrontaliers de Genève, Bâle et de Luxembourg. Il s’appuie sur une exploitation des données du recensement français de la population, complétées par les données issues des pays de travail des frontaliers. Si les travailleurs frontaliers ont des caractéristiques sociodémographiques relativement communes aux différents pôles d’emploi transfrontaliers (plutôt des hommes, relativement jeunes…), l’article met en lumière une spécificité territoriale des profils socioprofessionnels en fonction des différents espaces transfrontaliers observés. Le travail frontalier constitue alors une modalité de la gestion territoriale de la main-d’œuvre et des compétences.

This article analyzes the main spatial and socio-professional dimensions of cross-border workers at the different borders of France, particularly within the cross-border employment poles of Geneva, Basel and Luxembourg. It is based on data from the French population census, supplemented by data from the countries where cross-border workers work. While cross-border workers have socio-demographic characteristics that are relatively common to the different cross-border employment centres (mostly men, relatively young, etc.), the article highlights the territorial specificity of socio-professional profiles according to the different cross-border spaces observed. Cross-border work thus constitutes a modality of territorial management of labor and skills.

Plus d’informations sur la publication

Accessible sur ORBI

This article appeared on Teagasc Daily 4th June 2020

Background: Water Quality in Ireland and EU Directives

The European Union (EU) has introduced a number of directives aimed at improving water quality, such as the Nitrates Directive (ND) (91/676/EEC) and Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/EC). The WFD set out to achieve ‘good status’ in surface waters by2027 at the latest but also aims to ensure that there is no decrease in quality. Nitrogen and phosphorus losses from agriculture have attracted considerable attention. In Ireland, water quality had stabilised and began to improve over the last few decades.

However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water quality report 2013-2018, showed a 5.5 % net decline in quality of rivers over the period. According to the EPA a total of 53 % of river water bodies were at high or good quality with the remaining 47 % at moderate or worse. The percentage of high-quality monitoring sites was just 17%, down from 32% in the 1987–1990 period, which is a significant decline.

In response to decreasing water quality, the 4th Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) which started in 2017, sees the introduction of additional measures aimed at reducing the overall level of nutrient losses from agriculture. These measures relate to the location of drinking points on farms, spreading of fertiliser, farmyards, roads and cattle exclusion from watercourses (DAFM, 2018).

In addressing climate and environmental needs at local level, voluntary and mandatory measures can be used in a more targeted way. With increasing pressure on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget and limited resources, EPA funded this study to create a database which can ensure money is spent as efficiently as possible.

The 4th NAP of the Nitrates Directive (ND) requires farms with an allowance (derogation, so called as they derogate from the directive) to farm at a grassland stocking rate over 170 kg N/ha, to prevent cattle from accessing watercourses from January 2021. This 170 kg N/ha relates to the spreading of organic manure or slurry and that deposited by the animals themselves. Five EU member states apply for a derogation from the Nitrates Directive; Belgium (Flanders), UK (Northern Ireland), Denmark, Ireland and Italy (Piedmont and Lombardy). Derogations are reviewed every four years like the Nitrates Directive.

Impact and potential benefits of fencing off watercourses

This research uses Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) along with the Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI) database PRIME2. PRIME2 is the most sophisticated dataset produced by OSI. It contains every building and feature in the country (houses, sheds, roads, field boundaries, rivers, railways).

One of the issues with the LPIS data is that it is not spatially accurate. Field boundaries zig-zag across the landscape. Matching the LPIS with the PRIME2 dataset produced a spatial database SLIDE (Spatial Land Identification Database for Éire), containing all 130,000 farms and over 2 million individual fields in Ireland. The figure shows a sub-sample of the information contained in the SLIDE database.

The objective was first to quantify the total amount of on-farm watercourses in Ireland and secondly using stocking rate, create a measure of potential damage to watercourses arising from livestock dung (and faecal matter), as other studies have found that cattle drinking in streams prefer to defecate in the stream as opposed to in the field.

Studies have estimated that cattle produce on average 23kg of faecal matter daily. If given access to a river, between 7-10% of 23kg will be deposited in-stream. Over the entire grazing season, that would be over 100kg per cow. In addition to the damage caused by the faecal matter, there is the additional damage due to sediment, damage to the riverbank and increased risk of disease.

To judge the effectiveness of a policy, the benefits and costs must be considered. The costs are measured by cost of the fencing and lost area around the riverbank. The benefits are measured by reduced faecal matter deposited in the river. The stocking rate is therefore an important determinant of cost effectiveness, as the more intensive a farm is, the more faecal matter deposited and the greater risk to water courses. The results of the cost benefit analysis show that farms with the highest stocking rates and largest paddocks with access to a watercourse should be prioritized for fencing. Although some areas might have higher amounts of on-farm watercourses, if agricultural intensity is low, the cost effectiveness of fencing is reduced.

These important local differences can only be calculated and identified using highly detailed information as it is not feasible to go through each of the 130,000 farms one by one to identify needs and suitable environmental measures. This is where the use of technology can help. The SLIDE maps can be utilised to identify the areas with the greatest level of cost effectiveness for a particular measure, thus achieving greater impact.

Place based approaches using technology can be used to implement more targeted policies. Rather than using a national approach, we can use large scale datasets to implement more locally relevant policies. One example is fencing of water courses another could be fertiliser application periods.

In 2020, the European Court of Auditors completed an audit in how new imaging technologies can be used to monitor the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Normally the LPIS is only updated every 3 years with a need to carry out ground inspections of ~5% of farms (6,500 farms in Ireland). Machine learning algorithms can be used to identify noncompliance reducing the need for random inspections and allow for more targeted inspections. Article

Summary

• The areas where fencing off water courses is most cost effective are located in the south of the country.
• Farm size and shape and farmer characteristics all play a role in determining the level of cost effectiveness of fencing individual farms.
• The study confirms that fencing areas according to agricultural intensity as recommended in the 4th NAP of the Nitrates Directive is a cost effective solution.
• CAP: Move away from one-size-fits-all regulation and incentives for farm management practices.
• Agri-Environmental Schemes: A local approach to regulation and AES design could be more beneficial in ensuring more targeted and efficient use of resources.

The results and findings in this article come from the published article:

Kilgarriff, P., Ryan, M., O’Donoghue, C., Green, S., Ó hUallacháin, D. 2020. Livestock Exclusion from Watercourses: Policy Effectiveness and Implications. Environmental Science and Policy. 106 58-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2020.01.013

This research was funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ireland as part of the Research Programme 2014–2020 as part of the COSAINT project: Cattle exclusion from watercourses: Environmental and socio-economic implications. The entire report [pdf] can be viewed on the EPA website [1]

[1] DISCLAIMER: Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the material contained in this journal article, complete accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Neither the Environmental Protection Agency nor the authors accept any responsibility whatsoever for loss or damage occasioned or claimed to have been occasioned, in part or in full, as a consequence of any person acting or refraining from acting, as a result of a matter contained in this journal article.

Free access until October 9th, 2019: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1ZbT5_Uo5A~6R5 

Our commentary answers a systematic review from Lindsey Smith, Louise Foley and Jenna Panther on “Activity spaces in studies of the environment and physical activity” (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.04.003)

Thank you Health and Place for this opportunity!

Abstract

Activity space research provides a framework to consider mobility while linking environments to behaviors in the study of neighborhood effects on health. Increased use of wearable location sensors provides new opportunities to observe and analyze fine-grained spatial and temporal information on individuals’ mobility patterns, environmental exposures and behaviors; however, these analysis does not easily translate into causal inference. Additional dimensions underlying behavioral decision-making likely influence or even modify environmental effects on behaviors. This commentary discusses how further progresses in exposure measurement, integration of data collection tools, and development of study designs could support future interventions to optimize how environments shape health profiles and inequities.

Check out our new CURHA (Contrasting Urban Environments and Healthy Ageing, FNR-IRSC-FRSQ project) paper on links between mobility and wellbeing among older adults in Luxembourg ! We used the concept of motility, estimated in a structural equation model, in order to disentangle the complex relationships between locations, geographic environments and daily mobility related to wellbeing.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098019852033

Abstract

Purpose

Daily mobility is recognised as playing a key role in wellbeing, as it is linked to the ability to conduct activities and participate in society, maintain physical independence, promote social relations, and avoid social exclusion. We consider the notion of daily mobility by distinguishing two aspects: movement per se and motility as the mobility potential (Kaufmann et al., 2004), and we investigate theoretically and empirically how mobility influences wellbeing in the specific case of 471 older adults in Luxembourg, while controlling for micro-environmental conditions.

Conceptual framework

Results

Both second-order latent variables (motility and wellbeing) are non-significant. The links between motility components and wellbeing: Only competences are directly linked to both eudaimonic wellbeing (EWB) and hedonic wellbeing (HWB), appropriation is directly linked to EWB, while access has no direct link to wellbeing. There is an impact of access on EWB, but mediated through appropriation and time movement. Of the three components of motility, only access embeds the geographical context. The links between movement and wellbeing: The size of the activity space – and to a lesser extent, daily travel time – are negatively correlated with EWB.

Conclusion

Changing the local physical features of cities and neighborhoods – typically by increasing access – is important for enhancing movement and wellbeing. Through planning actions that improve access, policy makers may better help elderly people to blossom and project themselves in their environment. More generally, shifting the focus from travel satisfaction (and largely hedonic wellbeing) to the eudaimonic parts of wellbeing seems key to future planning actions.

Abstract

Purpose

Understanding the geographical and environmental triggers for active transport among older adults is crucial to promote healthy and independent lifestyles. While transportation research has long considered trip purpose as a major determinant of transport mode choices, “place and health” research has paid little attention to it, and even less in connection with environmental determinants. To avoid an oversimplification of how neighborhood built environments influence utilitarian walking, it is critical to account simultaneously for trip purposes, the locations of visited places, and the related exposure to surrounding environments.

Methods

Based on a cohort of 471 older adults in Luxembourg, this study examines the influence of trip purposes on utilitarian walking, and the potential interaction effects with characteristics of multiple geographic environments and distance to the place of residence. Information related to demographics, health status, and regularly visited destinations was collected in 2015 and 2016. Associations between trip purpose, environment, distance, and walking were analyzed using multilevel logistic regressions, accounting for demographics, neighborhood self-selection, and health status.

Results

After accounting for environmental attributes, distance, and confounding factors, trip purpose remained a strong correlate of walking among older adults. Associations between distance and walking strongly differed by trip purpose (Wald Chi2 test p < 0.001). Access to amenities, public transport stops, and street connectivity were associated with walking, although no interaction with trip purpose was observed.

Conclusion

Trip purposes based on free-time activities–including visits to family and friends, and restaurants and cafés–seem to be less influenced by the barrier effect of distance on walking. While place and health studies increasingly address both the “where” and “when” of travel behaviors, the current study additionally stresses the importance of the trip purpose to emphasize “why” and “for what” people walk.

Abstract

Introduction

Promoting active transport offers the potential to increase population physical activity levels. Compensation theories state that above-average physical activity in one activity is compensated in later activities; a mechanism that results in stable levels of total physical activity. Little is known about possible compensation of transport physical activity among older adults.

Methods

GPS (Global Positioning System) and accelerometer data collected among older adults (65+) were pooled from four cohorts in Canada, Luxembourg, and France (n=636, collected between 2012 and 2016). Physical activity was measured as total volume of physical activity for trips and non-trip activities. Robust linear regressions on person-centered data were used to test within-person associations between transport and total physical activity.

Results

636 older adults – median age of 76 years, 49% women – provided accelerometer and GPS data for at least 4 days. 18% of the total volume of physical activity was related to transport. A positive association was found between physical activity during a trip and the physical activity during the next hour, among those with lower levels of regular physical activity. Negative associations – indicating partial compensation – were found between transport physical activity during a day, and both total physical activity during the next day and non-transport physical activity during the same day. No differences were found between the four study cohorts.

Conclusions

Transport physical activity is compensated partially by older adults during non-transport physical activity. Given the presence of compensation, we strongly recommend evaluations of transport interventions to measure and analyze both non-transport and transport physical activity.

Abstract

Urban development projects have many effects on society, such as improving mobility, health, education, and sustainability. For policy-relevant measures, it is important that policymakers are able to foresee how quality improvements influence the price of land. Therefore, our objective is to collect a set of variables able to account for the effects of a multitude of land quality improvements. In addition, surrounding plots and the natural and built environment might also influence urban land prices. However, most house price and land price indices do not control for any potentially related spatial effects. The urban land price index detailed here is based on land transaction prices for Luxembourg between 2010 and 2014 recorded in notarial deeds and cadastral data, together with geo-spatial characteristics. The proposed index includes many aspects in an initial hedonic model specification. After performing a spatial dependence test and identifying several spatial effects, the index also operates on a spatial model.

The measure of a household’s income should include not only monetary components such as job salary but also non-monetary components and in-kind benefits, such as imputed rent. Imputed rent is the rent an owner can expect to receive were the house on the rental market. Being an owner-occupier does not provide a rental income however, it saves the owner from having to pay market rent. This is turn can increase a household’s potential to consume other products and services.

The measure of a household’s income should include not only monetary components such as job salary but also non-monetary components and in-kind benefits, such as imputed rent. Imputed rent is the rent an owner can expect to receive were the house on the rental market. Being an owner-occupier does not provide a rental income however, it saves the owner from having to pay market rent. This is turn can increase a household’s potential to consume other products and services.

Results show that the imputed cash flows from property ownership decreases the income share of those at the bottom of the income distribution and is inequality increasing, except in the case of those aged 65 +. Spatially the benefits of housing are greatest in urban areas where property values are highest. The small area measurements of imputed rent highlight the dis-equalising impact imputed rent and housing wealth has on inequality; the rich being able to consume more housing and thus have higher imputed rents.

Increases inequality from a Gini of 0.37159 to 0.38595.

A reverse mortgage/annuity (RMA) enables owner-occupiers to use their home as equity to buy an annuity, which provide them with regular payments, without the need to move out or sell the house therefore providing security of tenure. Without including reverse mortgage/annuity in the analysis, the household would leave behind a significant amount of equity,which is then bequeathed to descendants contributing to inequality. Using reverse mortgage/annuity however treats households as separate units as the household will consume the value of the property before death. Households can over consume to make up for periods of under consumption, i.e. when paying a mortgage. Reverse mortgage/annuity has the potential to financially protect households 65 + by acting as an additional pension, they have paid into over the term of the mortgage. The stream of consumption value provided by housing compensates the elderly who are ‘cash poor but asset rich’.

Policy Implications

After accounting for housing costs in the form of rent and mortgage payments and housing benefits in the form of imputed rent and reverse mortgage/annuity, the spatial distribution of welfare changes. On average the income share of the Greater Dublin Area (GDA)increases, however when the movers are examined, the high rents and property values and overall benefits to owner occupiers in the GDA, are masking the high costs young renters face. This highlights the importance of examining issues such as housing inequality at a detailed spatial scale as opposed to aggregate totals. However, overall the net gain to owner-occupiers does not exceed the net loss to non-owner-occupiers and inequality nationally increases. The inequality measures show that overall housing costs and benefits are having a regressive impact on the income distribution with those at the lower end of the income distribution disproportionately affected. The income share of lower groups decreases after net imputed rent.

In terms of policy implications, a tax on imputed rent should be examined which may reduce the inequality between those who own a house and those who are renting. The current LPT is attempting to address this however the tax is levied on all properties, this is despite private renters not receiving the same level of benefits from housing as owner-occupiers.The LPT should account for the variation in housing benefits across the life-cycle. Effective implementation may incentivise those in the older age categories to take out a reverse mortgage/annuity.

Increased uptake of RMA may result in the older age categories consuming the housing wealth as opposed to bequeathing.This can address issues relating to the inequality of inherited wealth. The high rental values particularly in the GDA may hinder an individual’s ability to save and eventually draw down a mortgage. Solutions are required to increase an individual’s potential to save. There are clear benefits to owner-occupation especially for the elderly. If current trends of decreasing home ownership levels continue, future elderly groups will be particularly vulnerable, as they would not have the financial safety net in the form of a housing asset.

Methodology

This study examined the impact of net imputed rent on the distribution of income in a spatial context. The spatial impact of net imputed rent, mortgage payments, private rent, public rent(social housing schemes) and reverse mortgage/annuity on the spatial distribution of disposable income was examined for the year 2011. A spatial microsimulation model, simulated model of the Irish local economy (SMILE), was used to simulated disposable income at a detailed spatial scale. Rental and property values are estimated at a spatial scale adopting the kriging methodology. The created rental and property data were merged into the SMILE simulated dataset to examine the impact of housing on the spatial distribution of disposable income at a small area level.

Funding

This research was funded under the John and Pat Hume Doctoral Awards at Maynooth University.