Through rapid urban growth, light pollution will likely increase significantly. This light pollution does not only affect human health, but also that of nocturnal animals. This thesis takes the...Show moreThrough rapid urban growth, light pollution will likely increase significantly. This light pollution does not only affect human health, but also that of nocturnal animals. This thesis takes the form of a research proposal, aiming to answer the following research question: “How does light pollution affect habitat fragmentation of the common pipistrelle bat?” The common pipistrelle bat was chosen as it is a common urban species of bat and therefore easily researchable. The common pipistrelle bat could be seen as an indicator species, which means that researching the species could give insights in other species as well. The effects of light pollution mainly affect the prey of the common pipistrelle, which in turn leads to the foraging behaviour of the species being altered. The thesis will be written as a literature review collecting information that will be used to propose a research design for answering the research question. This literature review is not intended as a systematic literature review. Collecting the data ourselves for this study was not possible given the timeframe for a bachelor thesis. The proposed research design presents a way to measure the effects of light pollution on foraging behaviour and habitat connectivity for one colony of bats, accounting for the requirements of habitat, foraging and roosting behaviour of the common pipistrelle as defined through the literature review.Show less
The purpose of this study was to determine whether the sustainable mobility transition in The Hague, The Netherlands is fair by analyzing the transition from a mobility justice perspective....Show moreThe purpose of this study was to determine whether the sustainable mobility transition in The Hague, The Netherlands is fair by analyzing the transition from a mobility justice perspective. Sustainable mobility systems are being implemented in cities all over the world, and it is essential to ensure that these transitions are just, amending existing injustices and preventing future ones. Utilizing deductive content analysis, five key policy documents from The Hague’s municipality were examined on mobility justice considerations. The theoretical framework combined five nested approaches constituting mobility justice (distributive justice, justice as recognition, procedural justice, restorative justice, and epistemic justice). The analysis revealed a high prevalence of distributive justice in the documents, alongside the generalization of residents by the municipality hindering the realization of justice as recognition and a knowledge production focused on technological advancements limiting epistemic justice considerations. Furthermore, the results allowed for further insights into the interlinkage between the five-justice dimensions, highlighting their inherent reliance on one another to realize mobility justice, with justice as recognition playing a central role and epistemic justice constituting the scope of the mobility transition discourse.Show less
Around the world, urban governors are confronted with the task to protect their inhabitants against the effects of climate change. To take such measures, developers nowadays turn more towards...Show moreAround the world, urban governors are confronted with the task to protect their inhabitants against the effects of climate change. To take such measures, developers nowadays turn more towards nature-based solutions. For instance, the Henriëttewaard in ‘s-Hertogenbosch has been chosen for nature development to contribute to the city’s resilience as part of the Green Delta Program. By gaining insight and incorporating the demands of stakeholders into area plans, a more inclusive nature-based solution can be developed which increases support for these types of projects. This study aims to investigate how stakeholder objectives can be aligned with the potential ecosystem services and nature-based solutions elements in the Henriëttewaard. A literature survey and a survey with qualitative and quantitative questions were used to get insights into stakeholder demands for ecosystem services, as stakeholder participation can significantly improve the quality of spatial development projects. Results reveal that through potential ecosystem services mapping and engaging stakeholders in setting objectives for the Henriëttewaard, bottlenecks surface, and connections form, which allows the alignment of objectives and NbS elements. The main bottleneck is the disagreement among stakeholders about allowing agricultural activities in the Henriëttewaard. Fostering deliberation, cooperation, and knowledge-sharing among stakeholders, will support aligning objectives like recreation, sustainable agriculture, and climate resilience with potential ecosystem services. This research contributes to the integration of nature-based solutions in the Henriëttewaard, supporting the overall importance of facilitating inclusivity and quality. It expands existing knowledge by identifying what challenges can be expected in similar projects. Notwithstanding the limited sample, this research offers clarification into the complexities of stakeholder engagement in nature-based solution projects that are key to creating a livable city.Show less
Cities are becoming increasingly hot places to live. This reality is promoted by climate change as well as by Urban Heat Island effects, which in turn promote higher levels of heat stress in urban...Show moreCities are becoming increasingly hot places to live. This reality is promoted by climate change as well as by Urban Heat Island effects, which in turn promote higher levels of heat stress in urban areas. Yet how these heat stress levels are felt across the city is not uniform due to the unequal distribution of public space, vegetation, and coping mechanisms through the city fabric, consequently promoting social vulnerability. Based on the literature and examples from North American cities, the purpose of this thesis is to establish if an unequal distribution of heat stress and consequent social vulnerability occurs in the city of The Hague. To do so, a linear regression was used to establish a relation between income and temperature levels, followed by a mixed methodology approach based on the framework of Harlan et al. (2006) where social conditions, thermal environment and coping mechanisms are analysed. The findings of this research show that in the neighbourhoods of The Hague there is a correlation between income levels and temperatures. Furthermore, low temperatures neighbourhoods follow a trend of high income, high vegetation levels, high coping mechanisms in the public space, and low levels of impervious surface. On the other hand, high-temperature neighbourhoods show lower income levels, low vegetation levels, low coping mechanisms and high levels of impervious surfaces. This scenario shines a light on the social inequality of public spaces through The Hague and draws parallels to the Environmental Justice issues of vulnerability found in the North American Cities. These findings are important for policymaking and the promotion of more integrated approaches between urban planning, urban design, climate mitigation strategies, health officials and the Municipality when proposing interventions at the local level.Show less
China is the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) market, possessing 4.5 million EVs in 2020, far ahead of the second-place country - the U.S., with 1.7 million EVs in the same period (Silver,...Show moreChina is the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) market, possessing 4.5 million EVs in 2020, far ahead of the second-place country - the U.S., with 1.7 million EVs in the same period (Silver, 2021). This is because the government promotes EVs as the future of urban mobility due to its low emission characteristic (Iea.org, 2020). However, some researchers argue, that if considering the production and disposal of the vehicles and EV batteries, the life cycle environmental impacts of EVs can be much bigger and EVs may not be as ‘clean’ as most people have thought (Yu, et al., 2018). This is especially true for China, where the electricity generation is still highly relying on high polluting coal-fired plants, landfilling is used for EV and battery disposal that generate enamours negative environmental impacts, the resources for battery production are not secured, and so on (Eguchi, et al., 2020, Song, et al., 2016, Liu, et al., 2020). It is urgent for now to study how to mitigate or solve these environment impacts. Through an extensive literature review, this research has identified the key factors influencing the life cycle environmental impacts of EVs in China. The key findings are summarized as following. At the production stage, most of the environmental impacts are caused by the EV barratries production, including reduces the resource security as it requires a large amount of cobalt, lithium, coal, and such. These resources are non-renewable and some of the extraction rate is very low (Liu, et al., 2020, Zeng, wt al., 2015); it also generates air and water pollution since the electricity to support EV production in China is mainly generated from coal-fired plants (Eguchi, et al., 2020). At the utilization stage, there is normally no direct impact to the environment, but the electricity output efficiency in China is very low, meaning more coal are required and more pollution would be generated to support the EV charging (Jiang, 2019); also, thermal hazard may happen occasionally under abusive condition, for example, in car crashing (Ouyang, et al., 2019). At the end-of-life stage, landfilling is the most common method to dispose EVs and EV batteries in China. Reduces resource security as it make valuable materials on EV uncoverable, generate heavy metal pollution, and reduce food security as landfilling disfunction the agricultural land (Costa, et al., 2021, Song, et al., 2016, Zeng, II et al., 2015, Tencent New, 2019, People.cn, 2020); nevertheless, most of the environmental impacts can be mitigated or solved by recycling the EV and EV battery, yet, there is no clear standards as well as agenda for both EV and EV battery recycling in China (Song, et al., 2016, Shu, et al., 2021, Yu, et al., 2020, Casper, et al., 2020, Abdullah, 2021). Accordingly, recommendations are proposed to shed a light on the sustainable transition of urban mobility, assuring ‘cleaner’ pathways for future EV development in China. Switching the current electricity generation system to more sustainable ones can mitigate the environmental impacts generated from EV and EV battery production, and EV charging. Reducing or phasing out the current EV subsidy scheme and encourage car-sharing. Setting up clear standards as well as proper agenda to facilitate EVs and EV batteries recycling is able to enhance the resource security for EV and EV battery production, and the environmental impacts generated from landfilling. Additionally, promote alternative subject which is more sustainable is also a possible solution. Nevertheless, the whole life cycle of the value chain for the alternative subjects must be examined to indicate the sustainability before promotion.Show less
Urban farming could be considered as a means of improving several aspects of city life, such as sustainable food provisioning, healthy living environments, climate change effects, and people’s...Show moreUrban farming could be considered as a means of improving several aspects of city life, such as sustainable food provisioning, healthy living environments, climate change effects, and people’s social well-being. Allotment gardening is an increasingly common urban farming initiative, which is an assigned individually-owned plot of land in the city where people could, for example, grow fruits and vegetables, spend time outdoors, or meet other gardeners. Yet, there can be various motivational indicators for why people start practising urban allotment gardening. Despite previous research studies on motivations to contribute to urban farming initiatives, there is still a need to investigate certain research gaps. These include people’s motivation to contribute to urban allotment gardening, and possible differences in motivations between age groups. This research investigates the main motivational indicators of allotment garden owners in Rotterdam, to see whether environmental issues, such as climate change play a role in people's motivation or not. Additionally, the differences in motivational indicators between five age groups were investigated to see whether age has an effect on motivation. A questionnaire survey was conducted, of which the respondents contained 119 practitioners of 12 different urban allotment organisations based in Rotterdam. The results showed that most of the respondents have their allotment garden to spend their leisure time. Additionally, it was found that the interaction between age group and motivational indicator was not significant (p = 0.56). A more extensive research study is required to conclusively understand how the age of allotment gardeners is linked to motivations.Show less
