Road infrastructure is essential for societal development, but is increasingly affected by flooding due to climate change. Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDSs) have recently emerged as an alternative to traditional drainage systems for better stormwater management and improved resilience. However, their uptake is still slow in Small Island Developing States (SIDSs). This research was conducted in Mauritius, which is a SIDS of volcanic origin, approximately 1,865 square kilometres in size and characterised by coastal plains and mountainous regions in the central part. The aim was to understand the potential for integrating various SUDS in major road projects and identify existing barriers and potential enablers. A qualitative approach was used through a semi-structured interview with 20 experts who have worked on highway infrastructure projects in Mauritius to gather information relevant to the research aim. Results showed that for Mauritius, the most feasible solutions were swales, soakaways, and infiltration trenches, due to their ease of implementation and lower costs. However, soil infiltration and water table levels pose significant challenges. However, other SUDS types, such as retention ponds, bioretention areas, and constructed wetlands, were not considered favourable due to their large land requirements. Permeable paving areas, although successfully used in parking areas and pedestrian walkways, were also rated poorly for integration into major road projects due to their lower traffic-load-bearing capabilities and riding quality, and to higher noise generation. Potential enablers identified included financial incentives, governmental regulations, and the implementation of pilot projects as showcases for SUDS efficacy in managing stormwater. The study has contributed to identifying the most suitable SUDS components for implementation in road projects in Mauritius. It can help provide a strong reference for other similar SIDS in establishing economic and regulatory policies to foster their uptake by engineers, planners, and land developers.

Introduction

Motorcycle delivery riders have emerged as a significant social working group within Pakistan’s gig economy. These riders play an essential role in ensuring community convenience and supporting local economies. Ensuring their occupational safety is critical as it contributes to broader urban social equity and resilience. However, workers are vulnerable to occupational hazards such as traffic accidents.

Objectives:

This study assesses the compliance of motorcycle delivery riders with Pakistan’s helmet usage law, i.e., PMVO 1969, 89-A, as well as to the International Labour Organization’s recommended limit of 8 working hours per day.

Methods

A cross-sectional pilot study was conducted among delivery riders working in Islamabad, Pakistan, by using convenience sampling. A structured questionnaire was designed to collect information on participants' demographics, as well as information on helmet usage, working hours, fatigue, and accident involvement. Descriptive statistics such as mean + standard deviation, as well as frequence and percentages, were reported using SPSS version 20.

Results

Based on our findings, only 38% of the participants wore a helmet while driving a motor bike by following Pakistan’s helmet usage law, i.e., PMVO 1969, 89-A. The mean daily working duration was 9.1 ± 3.6 hours per day, which exceeded the International Labour Organization’s recommended limit of 8 working hours per day. About 36% of respondents experienced at least one road accident. A high proportion, i.e., 35% of the respondents, reported frequent fatigue, reflecting the physical and mental strain associated with their demanding work schedules.

Conclusion

These findings highlight key areas of concern, i.e., poor helmet compliance, extended working hours, and fatigue, may increase the risk of road traffic accidents among riders. Our results emphasize the need for stricter implementation for fostering urban social equity and building resilient city systems.

Traditional urban planning over-prioritizes "hard" engineering, yet recent crises prove that physical assets alone cannot secure a city. This study investigates the "Kerala Model" -a paradigm prioritizing human capital and decentralized governance—as a premier framework for resilience. By contrasting the high-resource responses of Global Alpha++ megacities (London/NYC) as aspirational but flawed benchmarks against the community-centric model of Kochi, this research argues that socio-political infrastructure is a more agile catalyst for urban security than intricate physical systems.

The study utilizes a multi-scalar spatiotemporal analysis across seven domains. While the primary focus is on the COVID-19 pandemic, the research is significantly supported by a longitudinal analysis of the 2018 Nipah outbreak and subsequent major floods. The methodology integrates GIS-based land-use mapping and correlation analysis of mortality rates vs. population density. These tools are used to track how historical data from multiple crises informed the spatial and administrative management of the 2020–2022 health emergency.

Findings reveal that Kochi’s success was rooted in a three-tier governance framework that converted disaster-response experience into a permanent "soft" system. Unlike the rigid, tech-driven systems of London/NYC, Kochi’s built environment facilitated resilience through the strategic repurposing of social infrastructure—specifically local schools and neighborhood halls—into decentralized wellness hubs. This proactive surveillance was made possible by the proximity of localized healthcare facilities and a high level of social trust, which empowered a volunteer-led workforce to implement "Reverse Quarantining" and distribute essential supplies more effectively than top-down mandates.

This research validates socio-political infrastructure as the most sustainable path to securing urban environments against a spectrum of epidemiological and ecological shocks. It advocates for a "Community-Based Co-Design" philosophy that formalizes decentralized health networks and civic hubs as permanent urban features. By centering the Kerala Model, Kochi provides a definitive blueprint for global cities to achieve resilience through the strategic empowerment of social capital.

Over the past six decades, rapid population growth and shifting consumption patterns in the United States have significantly reshaped municipal solid waste (MSW) management, with population nearly doubling and MSW generation more than tripling between 1960 and 2018, driving higher per capita waste outputs and intensifying environmental pressures as economic development and urbanization expand both household and commercial waste streams. This study responds to the need to understand how long-term demographic and behavioral trends affect landfill reliance, recycling capacity, and sustainability outcomes by quantitatively examining nearly sixty years of national MSW data to evaluate relationships between population growth, total MSW volumes, per capita generation, recycling and landfill shares, and energy recovery through combustion. Using these historical data, this study develops linear regression models to forecast major waste streams through the year 2200, while imposing explicit constraints primarily capping the recycling and composting rate at 70% and fixing the combustion rate at 12.9% of total MSW generation, to keep long‑term projections within plausible technological and policy limits. The analysis suggests that resource recovery efforts continue to improve, with recycling and composting eventually reaching the 70 percent cap by the late 21st century, indicating substantial gains in diversion efficiency and processing capacity; however, the sustained linear growth in total MSW generation, driven largely by population expansion and rising per capita consumption, ultimately overwhelms these efficiency gains. The major finding is that even under optimistic recovery assumptions, the absolute tonnage of waste requiring landfill disposal is projected to rise sharply in the 22nd century, underscoring that improved management efficiency alone is insufficient and highlighting the critical importance of strategies that directly reduce waste generation through source reduction, material reuse, and systemic shifts in production and consumption

Climate change has intensified the occurrence of extreme events in Brazil, increasing social, economic, and environmental risks, especially in municipalities that lack policy instruments and actions to adapt to climate change. In this context, attention is drawn to the increased frequency of droughts, heavy rains, heat waves, and their direct impacts on urban populations and productive activities, in association with the scarcity of integrated diagnoses at the municipal level that support public adaptation policies. The objective of the study was to comparatively assess the climate vulnerabilities of the municipalities of Goiânia, Jataí, and Itumbiara, considering their distinct territorial and economic functions. To this end, a methodology based on a literature review and analysis of secondary data from official agencies and national platforms, such as IBGE, INMET, SEEG, ONS, AdaptaClima, and AdaptaBrasil MCTI, was adopted. In addition, a survey of news reports was conducted to identify records of extreme events, material damage, and human losses. The data were organized and analyzed using geoprocessing tools and spreadsheets, allowing for an integrated and comparative approach. The results indicate that Goiânia has high climate sensitivity, associated with high water demand, intensification of heat islands, and recurrent urban flooding. Jataí shows vulnerabilities related to dependence on agricultural production, with risks to food security in the face of prolonged droughts. Itumbiara, although relatively less sensitive, is vulnerable to reduced hydroelectric reservoir levels and water seasonality. It is concluded that municipal climate vulnerability is strongly conditioned by the economic matrix, the water supply system, and planning capacity. This study reinforces the importance of using integrated secondary data to support the formulation of local strategies for adaptation to climate change.

This study proposes an AI-based multi-criteria risk assessment framework to address the inherent subjectivity and limitations of traditional infrastructure evaluation methods in the face of extreme environmental hazards. The proposed methodology integrates Artificial Intelligence (AI), Fuzzy Logic, and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) into a unified quantitative decision-support tool. Five major risk dimensions are systematically incorporated: structural performance, environmental exposure, functional importance, emergency response capacity, and maintenance condition. Quantitative indicators are processed using min–max normalization, while qualitative variables are transformed via fuzzy membership functions.

A key innovation of this research is the introduction of AI-assisted weight calibration, which utilizes historical failure data and gradient-based optimization to refine AHP weights. This mechanism effectively reduces subjective bias and improves weight stability by 18–25% compared to conventional expert-only weighting methods. To validate the framework, a representative case study of a reinforced concrete bridge was conducted. The results yielded a Comprehensive Risk Index (CRI) of 0.71, indicating a moderate-to-high risk level. Structural performance and environmental exposure were identified as the dominant risk contributors, highlighting the coupled impact of aging assets and intensifying climate-related stressors.

Sensitivity analysis further demonstrated the framework's robustness against weight fluctuations, confirming its reliability for practical engineering applications. By providing a transparent and quantitative index, this research supports the implementation of SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). The framework offers a practical foundation for infrastructure maintenance prioritization, disaster risk reduction, and long-term resilience enhancement in the face of global climate uncertainty.

In November 2025, catastrophic flooding in Hat Yai, Thailand, was indisputable evidence of a failure in risk management. Stormy rain combined with inadequate planning caused the disaster. In three days, 595 mm of rain fell, overwhelming drainage systems and retention infrastructure. The flooding impacted transportation routes, homes, and businesses. Past the immediate damage, the disaster highlighted gaps in flood risk management. These include climate change adaptation, early warning systems, inter-agency cooperation, and community preparedness.

In contrast, Tokyo demonstrates a comprehensive flood-resilience system. It integrates scalable infrastructure, advanced forecasting, early warning systems, and community preparedness. An accurate flood risk assessment addresses the urban vulnerabilities caused by heavy rainfall. Early warning and robust evacuation plans help quickly share risk information. Community training is most important. This highlights that social preparedness is as critical as physical, organizational, and institutional abilities.

This research synthesizes the 2025 Hat Yai flood event and Tokyo's flood resilience system. It highlights key challenges and transferable lessons for climate-vulnerable cities. Using both cases, this study gives policy recommendations. They focus on data-driven early warning, flexible water retention, smart evacuation planning, and ongoing public education. To improve flood risk management, the strategies stress balanced urban planning, systematic climate adaptation, and resilient long-term approaches.

Rapid urbanization in the Philippines has significantly reduced the accessibility and functional quality of public green spaces, particularly in densely populated cities such as San Pedro, Laguna. Although sustainable city initiatives promote green urban development, limited attention has been given to how residents behaviorally adapt when green infrastructure is inadequate, poorly maintained, or weakly integrated into everyday urban life. This study, titled “Adaptation to the Absence of Urban Green Spaces: A Behavioral Study of Residents in San Pedro City, Laguna,” examines how urban Filipinos respond to these spatial constraints through the lens of Environmental Possibilism. Using a qualitative-dominant mixed-methods approach, the research evaluates residents’ perceptions alongside documented on-site behavioral observations. Findings reveal a strong perception of inadequacy and limited functionality among existing parks and plazas. In response, residents adapt by utilizing alternative outdoor spaces for leisure, recreation, and social interaction. Frequently used areas include sidewalks, vacant lots, basketball courts, mall open areas, and private home gardens. Although informal and not originally intended as primary green environments, these spaces effectively function as substitutes for formal public parks. The study emphasizes the need for people-centered, behavior-informed urban planning that prioritizes accessibility, integration, safety, and everyday usability to create inclusive and meaningful green environments in dense Philippine cities.

Historic urban centres concentrate vulnerable building stocks, critical urban functions, and high cultural value within dense, morphologically complex fabrics. Yet, seismic risk assessment still focuses predominantly on single buildings or purely structural indicators, often underestimating systemic vulnerabilities and heritage significance. This contribution proposes a multidisciplinary framework for seismic vulnerability assessment at the scale of heritage urban centres, integrating structural fragility, urban morphology, exposure, and conservation value into a unified, map‑based methodology. The approach combines: (i) building‑by‑building survey and typological classification, (ii) empirical vulnerability indices, (iii) urban‑scale indicators such as street network configuration, parcel patterns, and (iv) weighting of cultural significance to support priority setting for risk‑mitigation measures. The methodology is applied to a historic city‑centre case study located in the western part of Romania, in an area with shallow earthquakes, producing spatial vulnerability scenarios that highlight critical clusters, potential damage distribution across the proposed cultural promenade, and conflicts between structural risk and heritage value. Results show that considering only structural aspects yields intervention priorities different from those when urban configuration and cultural importance are explicitly included, with direct implications for emergency planning and resource allocation. The author argues for closer collaboration between earthquake engineering, architecture, urban planning, conservation, and social sciences, and outlines how such integrated assessments can inform urban policies aimed at enhancing both seismic resilience and quality of life in heritage cities.

Intensifying urban heat significantly exacerbates existing disparities in exposure and coping capacities, creating an urgent need for equity-focused adaptation strategies. Since traditional resilience planning is often fragmented, this paper suggests that an Urban Digital Twin (UDT) is essential for integrating these resilience planning components into a cohesive system. This conceptual paper proposes a reusable UDT framework specifically designed to enhance climate resilience by testing scenarios in three core areas: physical infrastructure, social dynamics, and institutional governance. To achieve this, the study proposes a minimum UDT architecture comprising the following structure: an environmental module, a social vulnerability module, and a decision-making module. This operational design allows for the testing of three distinct scenario categories: (1) physical interventions in the built environment, (2) social support mechanisms for at-risk populations, and (3) institutional strategies for policy implementation. Most existing standard approaches rely on temperature and environmental analysis, whereas this multidimensional methodology argues for the distributional equity of interventions. This paper suggests that integrating these three main components within a UDT environment is critical for decision-makers. It enables the identification of strategies that effectively protect the most vulnerable residents, rather than merely optimizing for city-wide temperature averages, ultimately fostering more just urban climate governance to ensure lasting social equity and systemic resilience.