- Boise, Idaho, United States
Michail Fragkias
Boise State University, College of Business and Economics, Faculty Member
Although the scale of impending urbanization is well-acknowledged, we have a limited understanding of how urban forms will change and what their impact will be on building energy use. Using both topdown and bottom-up approaches and... more
Although the scale of impending urbanization is well-acknowledged,
we have a limited understanding of how urban forms will change and
what their impact will be on building energy use. Using both topdown
and bottom-up approaches and scenarios,we examine building
energy use for heating and cooling. Globally, the energy use for
heating and cooling by the middle of the century will be between 45
and 59 exajoules per year (corresponding to an increase of 7–40%
since 2010). Most of this variability is due to the uncertainty in future
urban densities of rapidly growing cities in Asia and particularly
China. Dense urban development leads to less urban energy use
overall. Waiting to retrofit the existing built environment until markets
are ready in about 5 years to widely deploy the most advanced
renovation technologies leads to more savings in building energy
use. Potential for savings in energy use is greatest in China when
coupled with efficiency gains. Advanced efficiency makes the least
difference compared with the business-as-usual scenario in South
Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa but significantly contributes to energy
savings in North America and Europe. Systemic efforts that focus on
both urban form, of which urban density is an indicator, and energyefficient
technologies, but that also account for potential co-benefits
and trade-offs with human well-being can contribute to both local
and global sustainability. Particularly in growing cities in the developing
world, such efforts can improve the well-being of billions of
urban residents and contribute to mitigating climate change by reducing
energy use in urban areas.
we have a limited understanding of how urban forms will change and
what their impact will be on building energy use. Using both topdown
and bottom-up approaches and scenarios,we examine building
energy use for heating and cooling. Globally, the energy use for
heating and cooling by the middle of the century will be between 45
and 59 exajoules per year (corresponding to an increase of 7–40%
since 2010). Most of this variability is due to the uncertainty in future
urban densities of rapidly growing cities in Asia and particularly
China. Dense urban development leads to less urban energy use
overall. Waiting to retrofit the existing built environment until markets
are ready in about 5 years to widely deploy the most advanced
renovation technologies leads to more savings in building energy
use. Potential for savings in energy use is greatest in China when
coupled with efficiency gains. Advanced efficiency makes the least
difference compared with the business-as-usual scenario in South
Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa but significantly contributes to energy
savings in North America and Europe. Systemic efforts that focus on
both urban form, of which urban density is an indicator, and energyefficient
technologies, but that also account for potential co-benefits
and trade-offs with human well-being can contribute to both local
and global sustainability. Particularly in growing cities in the developing
world, such efforts can improve the well-being of billions of
urban residents and contribute to mitigating climate change by reducing
energy use in urban areas.
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This article was submitted without an abstract, please refer to the full-text PDF file.
Research Interests:
This article was submitted without an abstract, please refer to the full-text PDF file.
Research Interests:
Reflections on Rio: perspectives on the World Urban Forum 5 WUF 5: Melting pot of old & new ideas and meeting place of old & new friends The road from Rio Impressions of World Urban Forum 5 – March 2010 The World Urban Forum 5 from the perspective of Labour Reflections on the World Urban Forum 5:...more
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This article studies the creation of commercial and industrial spaces and consequently jobs in suburban and exurban areas of Montgomery County, MD – part of the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. We utilize a spatially explicit framework... more
This article studies the creation of commercial and industrial spaces and consequently jobs in suburban and exurban areas of Montgomery County, MD – part of the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. We utilize a spatially explicit framework of land use change analysis – which to date, has been applied solely in studies of residential decentralization and sprawl – to examine employment decentralization, a dominant trend in the United States. In view of the actual and potential impacts of this form of urban development, we argue for the need for balanced attention to both residential and job decentralization due to inconclusive evidence on whether people follow jobs or firms follow people towards suburbia and exurbia. We test the significance of market conditions, local government growth controls and other factors as drivers of industrial and commercial land use change through discrete choice statistical models.
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Contemporary urbanization differs from historical patterns of urban growth in terms of scale, rate, location, form, and function. This review discusses the characteristics of contemporary urbanization and the roles of urban planning,... more
Contemporary urbanization differs from historical patterns of urban growth in terms of scale, rate, location, form, and function. This review discusses the characteristics of contemporary urbanization and the roles of urban planning, governance, agglomeration, and ...
Research Interests: Geography, Globalization, Climate Change, Urban Planning, Governance, and 14 moreEnvironmental Sustainability, Urbanization, Multidisciplinary, Urban Development, Institution, Global change, Urbanisation, Urban Growth, Durability, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Trend Analysis, Agglomeration, Sustainability, and Environment Resources
... Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 2007, volume 34, pages 858 ^ 883 Abstract. Although there exist numerous urban growth models, most have significant data input requirements, limiting their utility in a developing-world... more
... Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 2007, volume 34, pages 858 ^ 883 Abstract. Although there exist numerous urban growth models, most have significant data input requirements, limiting their utility in a developing-world context. ...
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Research Interests:
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Contemporary urbanization differs from historical patterns of urban growth in terms of scale, rate, location, form, and function. This review discusses the characteristics of contemporary urbanization and the roles of urban planning,... more
Contemporary urbanization differs from historical patterns of urban growth in terms of scale, rate, location, form, and function. This review discusses the characteristics of contemporary urbanization and the roles of urban planning, governance, agglomeration, and ...
Research Interests:
This paper provides a dynamic inter- and intra-city analysis of spatial and temporal patterns of urban land-use change. It is the first comparative analysis of a system of rapidly developing cities with landscape pattern metrics. Using... more
This paper provides a dynamic inter- and intra-city analysis of spatial and temporal patterns of urban land-use change. It is the first comparative analysis of a system of rapidly developing cities with landscape pattern metrics. Using ten classified Landsat Thematic Mapper images acquired from 1988 to 1999, we quantify the annual rate of urban land-use change for four cities in southern China. The classified images were used to generate annual maps of urban extent, and landscape metrics were calculated and analyzed spatiotemporally across three buffer zones for each city for each year. The study shows that for comprehensive understanding of the shapes and trajectories of urban expansion, a spatiotemporal landscape metrics analysis across buffer zones is an improvement over using only urban growth rates. This type of analysis can also be used to infer underlying social, economic, and political processes that drive the observed urban forms. The results indicate that urban form can be quite malleable over relatively short periods of time. Despite different economic development and policy histories, the four cities exhibit common patterns in their shape, size, and growth rates, suggesting a convergence toward a standard urban form.