Urban Currents

MambaLSTM: A Spatio-Temporal Framework for Enhanced Traffic Accident Risk Prediction

The MambaLSTM framework predicts traffic accident risk by combining a squeeze-and-excitation temporal feature fusion module, a patch embedding module for adjacent spatial semantics, and a state-space Mamba block to capture global spatial correlations. The model also incorporates a specialized MambaLSTM unit to track both long- and short-term temporal dependencies across urban regions.

Why it matters — It prevents the introduction of noise during the fusion of spatial and temporal features while capturing global spatial relationships that traditional local-convolution models miss.

arXiv · pdf · code

The Impact of the Information Society on Sustainable Socio-economic Development Goals in European Regions: A Spatial and Hierarchical Regression Analysis

This study analyzed the impact of 9 household and individual information and communication technology (ICT) variables on 3 socio-economic Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) factors across 235 European regions in 2021. The researchers compared a multilevel mixed linear regression model with a spatial error model (SEM) using block weights, grouping the regions into 9 performance clusters.

Why it matters — It demonstrates that basic ICT activities like social media use have a stronger positive impact in lagging regions (such as Southeastern Europe), whereas advanced digital services like e-banking and digital government interaction are more strongly associated with higher SDG achievements in Northern and Central Europe. This provides a geographically differentiated framework for targeting regional digital policies rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.

Caveat: The study relies on cross-sectional data from a single year (2021), which limits the ability to establish long-term causal trends between ICT adoption and SDG progress.

Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy · pdf · doi

Assessing gendered accessibility inequalities to urban facilities among refugees: A 3SFCA method

This study measures spatial accessibility to education, health, green spaces, and religious facilities for refugees in Konya, Türkiye, using the Three-Step Floating Catchment Area (3SFCA) method. By analyzing the spatial distribution of these facilities relative to refugee settlements, the research calculates accessibility scores, Lorenz curves, and Gini coefficients to isolate structural inequalities from behavioral differences. The analysis reveals that male refugees have higher accessibility scores across all four facility types, with the most pronounced gender disparities occurring in access to healthcare and green spaces.

Why it matters — It provides empirical evidence quantifying how the physical distribution of urban services and refugee housing creates baseline, gender-based spatial inequalities, showing that female refugees face higher within-group inequality and compound spatial disadvantages.

Caveat: The analysis is limited to structural and spatial distribution factors, omitting behavioral variations and actual travel patterns of the refugee population.

Applied Geography · doi

How accessibility perception can improve accessibility measurement

The study introduces a theoretical framework to estimate perceived accessibility by modifying a standard gravity-based indicator with individual travel cost sensitivity and an enhanced impedance parameter. This method was tested using disaggregated spatial data from a Household Transport Survey of over 11,000 households in Lyon, France, calibrated via a four-stage model. The resulting perceived accessibility scores were consistently lower than standard gravity-based accessibility measurements, showing distinct spatial variations such as lower travel sensitivity in the wealthy central business district compared to suburban zones.

Why it matters — It bridges the gap between objective spatial metrics and subjective travel experiences, demonstrating that standard accessibility models systematically overestimate how accessible destinations actually feel to different socioeconomic groups across a metropolitan area.

Caveat: The empirical validation relies on a single French metropolitan area, meaning the specific spatial patterns of travel sensitivity may reflect Lyon's unique socioeconomic geography.

Cities · doi

Directional mean radiant temperature decomposition reveals micro-scale drivers of urban heat stress in Novi Sad (Serbia)

Using mobile meteorological carts, this study measured air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and six-directional radiation across 29 diverse urban locations in Novi Sad, Serbia, during a hot, cloud-free summer day. The measurements were used to calculate Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT) and Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET), which ranged from 25°C to 56°C. The analysis revealed that a 10% reduction in Sky View Factor (SVF) lowered MRT by up to 5°C, while surface type (grass versus impervious) had only minor effects on radiant load.

Why it matters — It isolates the specific directional radiative pathways that drive pedestrian heat stress, demonstrating that lateral shortwave radiation from local shading variability is the primary source of spatial PET differences, whereas surface materials play a negligible role compared to overhead geometry.

Caveat: The findings are based on measurements from a single, clear-sky, low-wind summer day in a single temperate-climate city, which may limit their applicability to other weather conditions or climates.

Sustainable Cities and Society · pdf · doi

Roadside native species seeding practices of Midwestern US departments of transportation

This study analyzed the roadside vegetation specifications manuals from eight Midwestern US state Departments of Transportation to evaluate their native seeding practices. The analysis revealed that seed mixes averaged 14 native species, with some containing as few as three, and many lacked functional diversity or early-blooming forbs. Minnesota's manual stood out for listing the highest number of native species and seed mixes, alongside detailed guidelines for seeding, establishment, and maintenance.

Why it matters — It identifies specific gaps in current state-level roadside planting guidelines, particularly the lack of pollinator-friendly early-blooming plants, and provides a list of low-cost, conservative native species that agencies can integrate to improve ecological restoration outcomes.

Caveat: The findings and recommendations are based solely on a review of official state manuals rather than field-based evaluations of actual roadside vegetation establishment.

Transportation Research Part D Transport and Environment · pdf · doi

Perceptions of Mobile Green in urban spaces with contrasting visibility and green context

This study evaluated public perceptions of 'Mobile Green', a movable tree-based temporary greening system, using questionnaire data collected across three Japanese sites with varying visibility and baseline green coverage: Tokyo's KK Line, Yokohama's JR Sakuragicho Station Square, and Tsukuba Center Square. The analysis revealed that higher visibility of the installation correlated with more positive evaluations of prominence and brightness, while participants at sites with lower baseline green coverage expressed a stronger preference for integrating these mobile units into daily environments like workplaces and homes.

Why it matters — It demonstrates that the perceived value of temporary urban greening is highly context-dependent, showing that mobile installations serve as daily ecological enhancements in dense, grey areas but are viewed as event-oriented features in civic plazas.

Caveat: The findings rely on self-reported questionnaire data from three specific urban sites in Japan, which may limit generalizability to other cultural or spatial contexts.

npj Urban Sustainability · pdf · doi

How do we enable our students and colleagues to do their very best thinking, for themselves?

This paper explores pedagogical approaches in geography education that foster independent thinking and the integration of diverse ideas. It examines how educators can structure learning environments to help students and colleagues develop autonomous cognitive skills and analytical competencies.

Why it matters — It shifts the focus of geography instruction from content delivery to cognitive empowerment, providing a framework for educators to cultivate self-directed intellectual capacity in their students.

Journal of Geography in Higher Education · pdf · doi

Wild ways: understanding the behavioural drivers of urban rewilding in London’s private gardens using the COM-B model

This qualitative study analyzed 20 semi-structured interviews with residents across 13 London boroughs to identify the behavioral drivers of domestic garden rewilding. Using the COM-B framework, the research maps how psychological capability, physical and social opportunities, and reflective and automatic motivations shape residents' gardening practices.

Why it matters — It identifies specific, actionable leverage points for local governments and schools to foster urban rewilding, shifting the focus from general environmental awareness to addressing concrete barriers like information navigation, local community dynamics, and early-years ecological education.

Caveat: The findings are based on a small, qualitative sample of 20 self-selected residents in a single metropolitan area, which may not represent the broader population's gardening constraints and motivations.

Cities & Health · doi

Negotiating Life in the Shadow of the Dam: Rhythmic Livelihoods in the Agno River Basin, Philippines

Through ethnographic research in riparian villages along the Agno River in the Philippines, this study examines how smallholders adapted their livelihoods following the construction of the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam. It documents the specific transformations and ongoing negotiations within three key river-dependent practices: rice farming, riverine fishing, and gold panning.

Why it matters — The study introduces the concept of rhythmic livelihoods to demonstrate that a dam's long-term disruption persists not just as static material ruins, but as an active, ongoing reorganization of the temporal, spatial, and material patterns of daily survival.

Caveat: The findings are based on qualitative ethnographic fieldwork within a single river basin, which may limit direct generalizability to regions with different socioecological or institutional contexts.

Annals of the American Association of Geographers · pdf · doi

Collage: A Method to Imagine Otherwise

This paper establishes collage as a formal geographical research method, providing a structured framework for its design, implementation, and analysis. It details practical guidance on material selection, session design, and organizer-participant dynamics, while contrasting its effectiveness when applied to adults versus children and demonstrating its utility for researcher reflexivity.

Why it matters — It provides a concrete methodological guide for researchers seeking to use creative, hands-on practices to explore feminist geography, offering a structured way for participants to visualize alternative spatial futures and for researchers to examine their own positionality.

Area · doi

The Mobility Culture Framework: a systematic review

This systematic review evaluates the Mobility Culture Framework (MCF), a planning and research tool developed primarily in Germany that analyzes mobility cultures through the interaction of social conditions and built environments. The review identifies theoretical, methodological, and empirical gaps in the existing literature, focusing on how the framework has been applied and conceptualized.

Why it matters — It establishes that the framework's conceptual foundations are frequently misunderstood or lost in translation, and argues for integrating mixed-method approaches and expanding research beyond large metropolitan areas to make the framework a more robust transformative planning tool.

Caveat: The review is based on a framework that has been predominantly developed and referenced within a German planning context, which may limit its immediate applicability to other planning cultures.

European Transport Research Review · pdf · doi

Artificial Intelligence for Understanding and Managing Transportation Behavior in Sustainable Smart Cities

This book chapter presents a behavior-centered framework that treats mobility records and passenger-generated text as behavioral evidence rather than absolute truth. It synthesizes four application areas: predicting bus arrivals, analyzing taxi mobility patterns, detecting abnormal behaviors for regulatory oversight, and mining passenger-perceived risks from text. These areas are structured into a closed-loop system connecting data input, AI inference, decision support, and governance feedback.

Why it matters — It establishes a unified conceptual pathway to translate raw, heterogeneous urban transit data into actionable operational, planning, and regulatory decisions while explicitly accounting for deployment challenges like data quality, privacy, and human accountability.

Caveat: The framework is conceptual and synthesis-based, rather than presenting a new empirical dataset or a specific algorithmic deployment.

arXiv · pdf