Towards a pattern language for green space design in high density urban developments

In the inevitable high-density urbanization process, existing urban green space (UGS) design approaches are ineffective in creating more green areas and combining multidisciplinary design principles to provide balanced sets of ecosystem services (ESs). This paper proposes a systematic framework for UGS design in the context of high-density urban...

A rational hybrid RANS-LES model for CFD predictions of microclimate and environmental quality in real urban structures

We report on the application and comparative assessment of two rational turbulence modelling approaches for the computer simulation of air flow and pollutant dispersion in real urban environment: a stand-alone unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes eddy-viscosity model (URANS), and its blend with Large-eddy simulations (LES) in a hybrid...

Semantic segmentation of mobile laser scanning point clouds with long short-term memory networks: Preliminary results

Although point clouds are characterized as a type of unstructured data, timestamp attribute can structure point clouds into scanlines and shape them into a time signal. The present work studies the transformation of the street point cloud into a time signal based on the Z component for the semantic segmentation using Long Short-Term Memory ...

Automatic detection and characerization of ground occlusions in urban point clouds from mobile laser scanning data

Occlusions accompany serious problems that reduce the applicability of numerous algorithms. The aim of this work is to detect and characterize urban ground gaps based on occluding object. The point clouds for input have been acquired with Mobile Laser Scanning and have been previously segmented into ground, buildings and objects, which have...

Determinants of urban wayfinding styles

Everyday people find their way towards work, supermarkets, or unfamiliar places are explored for a social visit. Understanding how differences in urban wayfinding behaviour relate to daily travel patterns is important to describe route choice behaviour, identify potential navigation problems, design more legible cities, and provide...

Interactions between vulnerable road users and automated vehicles: A synthesis of literature and framework for future research

Partially and fully automated vehicles (AVs) are being developed and tested in different countries. These vehicles are being designed to reduce and ultimately eliminate the role of human drivers in the future. Most fatal accidents of vulnerable road users (VRUs), pedestrians, cyclists and mopeds, involve a motorized vehicle. In addition, most of...

Urban Objects Classification With an Experimental Acoustic Sensor Network

This paper proposes feature extraction methods for object classification with passive acoustic sensor networks deployed in suburban environments. We analyzed the emitted acoustic signals of three object classes: 1) guns (muzzle blast); 2) vehicles (running piston engine); and 3) pedestrians (several footsteps). Based on the conducted analysis,...

The other city - desigining a serious game for crisis training in close protection

Effective training methods are key to successful crisis management in close protection. This paper discusses the outcomes of a project on the development of a serious game, a virtual training environment for close protection. The aims of the game are to improve situational awareness and communications skills at the individual and team level. Two...

The other city: Designing a serious game for crisis training in close protection

Effective training methods are key to successful crisis management in close protection. This paper discusses the outcomes of a project on the development of a serious game, a virtual training environment for close protection. The aims of the game are to improve situational awareness and communications skills at the individual and team level. Two...

Electric Mobility & the Urban Environment: The Schiphol Case

The introduction of electric mobility is one of the promising options to create a more sustainable mobility system for the future. Electric vehicles offer the promise of major reductions in local CO2, NOX and particulate emissions. In addition, electric vehicles are silent, easy to service and have high ‘well-to-wheel’ energy efficiency. However...

Effect of particulate matter, atmospheric gases, temperature, and humidity on respiratory and circulatory diseases’ trends in Lisbon, Portugal

This study addresses the significant effects of both well-known contaminants (particles, gases) and less-studied variables (temperature, humidity) on serious, if relatively common, respiratory and circulatory diseases. The area of study is Lisbon, Portugal, and time series of health outcome (daily admissions in 12 hospitals) and environmental...