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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2023) | Viewed by 11366

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Guohua Chen

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Guest Editor

Institute of Safety Science & Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
Interests: safety engineering and risk assessment technology; emergency management; safety management information system; process equipment and pipeline reliability, integrity, and safety
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Bing Wang

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Guest Editor

School of Resources and Safety Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Interests: basic theory of safety science; safety & security intelligence science; safety culture; big data; safety management

Prof. Dr. Diping Yuan

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Guest Editor

Shenzhen Urban Public Safety and Technology Institute, Shenzhen 518000, China
Interests: urban public safety; big data application; safety risk monitoring and early warning; emergency intelligent decision and simulation; intelligent fire fighting
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Hongwei Qian

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Guest Editor

Emergency Science and Engineering Research Center, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China
Interests: emergency management and technology; safety culture; disaster prevention and reduction; emergency shelters; safety discipline construction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cities are at the center of human activity and facilitate the concentration of the population, resources, and economies. At present, the world's urbanization rate has exceeded 55%, showing a trend that is continuing upward. The increasing complexity of urban operational systems has ushered in unprecedented opportunities and new challenges. Natural disasters, technological accidents, public health, social security, and other issues can have a sustained impact on urban safety and security. The purpose of this Special Issue, entitled Urban Safety and Security Assessment, is to explore the identification, analysis, assessment methods, and technologies of urban safety and security (covering different aspects such as urban risk, vulnerability, resilience, emergency capacity, etc.). We wish to study the improvement in the countermeasures of urban safety and security from the aspects of risk prevention and control, disaster reduction, and emergency management, so as to solve or mitigate the threats and problems faced by urban areas.

Original research articles and reviews are welcome in this Special Issue. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Urban safety and security management framework
Urban risk and vulnerability assessment
Urban resilience assessment
Emergency management
Multi-hazards coupling assessment
Disaster reduction and control
Countermeasures and suggestions for improving urban safety and security
Regional disaster-bearing capacity
Urban infrastructure safety
Urban lifeline safety
Megacity safety
Super high-rise building safety
Urban safety, security monitoring, and early warning
Urban safety modeling and simulation
Digital technologies for urban safety and security (smart city safety, big data, Internet of things technology, complex networks, etc.)

Prof. Dr. Guohua Chen
Prof. Dr. Bing Wang
Prof. Dr. Diping Yuan
Prof. Dr. Hongwei Qian
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

urban safety and security
risk management
vulnerability assessment
resilience assessment emergency management
multi-hazards coupling
disaster reduction and control
modeling and simulation
system development
monitoring and early warning

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2398 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Quantitative Framework for Propagation Paths of Natech Domino Effects in Chemical Industrial Parks: Part I—Failure Analysis

by Yunfeng Yang, Guohua Chen and Yuanfei Zhao

Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 8362; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108362 - 22 May 2023

Viewed by 1305

Abstract

Along with global climate change and industrialization, domino effects caused by Natech events occurred frequently in chemical industrial parks over the past decades. Previous research has not yet proposed a reliable method to obtain all possible paths of Natech domino effects, and moreover, a risk assessment and mitigation system has not been established. The present work aims to develop a quantitative framework for propagation paths of Natech domino effects, which can effectively safeguard the sustainable development of chemical industrial parks. The presentation of this work is divided into two parts: Part I (current paper) proposes a path probability calculation method that can simultaneously consider multiple primary accident scenarios and multi-level domino effects triggered by natural disasters. The proposed method transforms the propagation paths of domino effects into the paths of directed graph by constructing the equipment failure state transition matrix and the equipment failure state transition probability matrix. The depth-first traversal algorithm is used to obtain all possible propagation paths and their propagation probabilities, providing data support for the quantitative risk assessment and prevention and control measures presented in the accompanying paper (Part II). The case study shows that the probability of equipment failure caused by multi-level domino effects triggered by Natech accidents is higher than that of conventional accidents. However, the present work only considers the spatial propagation of domino effects, while their spatio-temporal propagation remains as a further direction for this area of inquiry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Safety and Security Assessment)

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19 pages, 3415 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Quantitative Framework for Propagation Paths of Natech Domino Effects in Chemical Industrial Parks: Part II—Risk Assessment and Mitigation System

by Yunfeng Yang, Guohua Chen and Yuanfei Zhao

Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 8306; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108306 - 19 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1233

Abstract

This is the second part of the quantitative framework for the propagation paths of Natech domino effects in chemical industrial parks, which focuses on risk assessment and a mitigation system based on the propagation path probabilities obtained from Part I. In this paper, the risk assessment model for the propagation paths of the domino effects induced by natural disasters are developed, and the risk level is quantitatively analyzed using individual risk and social risk indexes and compared with the risk acceptance standard to determine whether the risk in the plant area is at the risk acceptance level. Furthermore, the chain-cutting disaster mitigation model for domino effects induced by Natech events and the full-life-cycle mitigation system are proposed, and the effectiveness of mitigation measures is also evaluated. The case analysis results show that Natech events and multi-level domino effects can increase the risk to an unacceptable level, and taking corresponding mitigation measures could reduce the risk to an acceptable level. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Safety and Security Assessment)

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15 pages, 2556 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Predictive Choropleth Maps Using ARIMA Time Series Forecasting for Crime Rates in Visegrád Group Countries

by Usman Ghani, Peter Toth and Fekete David

Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 8088; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108088 - 16 May 2023

Viewed by 1030

Abstract

Geographical mapping has revolutionized data analysis with the help of analytical tools in the fields of social and economic studies, whereby representing statistical research variables of interest as geographic characteristics presents visual insights. This study employed the QGIS mapping tool to create predicted choropleth maps of Visegrád Group countries based on crime rate. The forecast of the crime rate was generated by time series analysis using the ARIMA (autoregressive integrated moving averages) model in SPSS. The literature suggests that many variables influence crime rates, including unemployment. There is always a need for the integration of widespread data insights into unified analyses and/or platforms. For that reason, we have taken the unemployment rate as a predictor series to predict the future rates of crime in a comparative setting. This study can be extended to several other predictors, broadening the scope of the findings. Predictive data-based choropleth maps contribute to informed decision making and proactive resource allocation in public safety and security administration, including police patrol operations. This study addresses how effectively we can utilize raw crime rate statistics in time series forecasting. Moreover, a visual assessment of safety and security situations using ARIMA models in SPSS based on predictor time-series data was performed, resulting in predictive crime mapping. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Safety and Security Assessment)

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18 pages, 3728 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hyperspectral Classification of Hazardous Materials Based on Deep Learning

by Yanlong Sun, Jinxing Hu, Diping Yuan, Yaowen Chen, Yangyang Liu, Qi Zhang and Wenjiang Chen

Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7653; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097653 - 06 May 2023

Viewed by 1450

Abstract

The identification of hazardous materials is a key measure in the prevention and control of fire and explosion disasters. Conventional techniques used to identify hazardous materials include contact detection and post-sampling laboratory testing, which cannot meet the needs of extreme environments, where personnel and equipment are not accessible for on-site detection. To address this problem, this paper proposes a method for the classification and identification of hazardous materials based on convolutional neural networks, which can achieve non-contact remote detection of hazardous materials. Firstly, a dataset containing 1800 hyperspectral images of hazardous materials, which can be used for deep learning, is constructed based on the hazardous materials hyperspectral data cube. Secondly, based on this, an improved ResNet50-based classification method for hazardous materials is proposed, which innovatively utilizes a classification network based on offset sampling convolution and split context-gated convolution. The results show that the method can achieve 93.9% classification accuracy for hazardous materials, which is 1% better than the classification accuracy of the original ResNet50 network. The network also has high performance under small data volume conditions, effectively solving the problem of low classification accuracy due to small data volume and blurred image data features of labelled hazardous material images. In addition, it was found that offset sampling convolution and split context-gated convolution showed synergistic effects in improving the performance of the network. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Safety and Security Assessment)

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20 pages, 28614 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Evaluation of Emergency Shelter Service Functions and Optimisation Suggestions—Case Study in the Songyuan City Central Area

by Siqi Tang, Jianguo Wang, Yuanhao Xu, Shengbo Chen, Jiawang Zhang, Wutao Zhao and Guojian Wang

Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7283; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097283 - 27 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1576

Abstract

Reasonable planning and construction of emergency shelters is of great significance in improving the ability of cities to prevent and mitigate disasters and ensuring urban public safety. From the perspective of the needs of the evacuees, this paper constructs an evaluation index system for the service function of emergency evacuation places in four aspects: effectiveness, accessibility, safety and rescue responsiveness. This paper takes the central city of Songyuan as the case study area. We apply the entropy weight–TOPSIS–grey correlation method to evaluate the service functions of emergency shelters in the central city of Songyuan and determine their service function levels. An interactive analysis using the bivariate Moran index is used to determine the current state of supply and demand for places of refuge, in terms of their service functions and population distribution. It also makes recommendations for optimisation, based on the extent to which the service function of the emergency shelter is coordinated with the distribution of the population. The results show that of the 54 emergency shelters in the central city of Songyuan, the low and medium service function levels are divided into 33 and 15, with problems such as unreasonable spatial layout and inadequate emergency supplies and medical resources. The future construction of emergency shelters should focus not only on increasing the number and improving the scale, but also on considering the characteristics of population distribution, optimising the spatial distribution pattern and making full use of existing resources such as parks, squares and schools. The establishment of composite spatial resources for disaster preparedness and the promotion of a government-led model of interconnected shelter and emergency infrastructure can effectively enhance the spatial resilience of cities in response to natural hazards. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Safety and Security Assessment)

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20 pages, 12273 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Methodology for Resilience Assessment of Oil Pipeline Network System Exposed to Earthquake

by Jiajun Ma, Guohua Chen, Tao Zeng, Lixing Zhou, Jie Zhao and Yuanfei Zhao

Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 972; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15020972 - 05 Jan 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1400

Abstract

The oil pipeline network system (OPNS) is an essential part of the critical infrastructure networks (CINs), and is vulnerable to earthquakes. Assessing and enhancing the resilience of the OPNS can improve its capability to cope with earthquakes or to recover the system’s performance quickly after the disturbance. This study defines the concept of OPNS resilience in the resistive ability, the adaptive ability, and the recovery ability. Then, the quantitative resilience assessment model is established considering the earthquake intensities, the role of safety barriers, the time-variant reliability, and the importance coefficient of each subsystem via a Monte Carlo simulation. Combining the model with GIS technology, a new methodology to evaluate OPNS resilience is proposed, and the resilience partition technology platform is developed, which can visualize the results of the resilience assessment. Finally, a case study is implemented to demonstrate the developed methodology, and a discussion is provided to identify the sensitive variables. The proposed resilience methodology can provide a framework for the probabilistic resilience assessment of OPNS, and could be expanded to other lifeline network systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Safety and Security Assessment)

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19 pages, 2489 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Time in Responding to Terrorist Attacks in Cities

by Jarosław Stelmach and Natalia Moch

Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16643; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416643 - 12 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1483

Abstract

Terrorism is one of the most serious threats today. The perpetrators of the attacks use newer and newer tools and apply new methods of operation. Their goal is to cause fear; therefore, for the media message to be more and more attractive, the terrorists began to attack even more spectacularly. Considering the above, cities conducive to forming clusters of people are attractive places to carry out an attack. To meet the emerging challenges, cities increasingly use modern information and communication technologies, transforming into smart cities. One of the basic assumptions for this is to ensure high safety and public order. Antiterrorist protection is a particular challenge for city authorities. Considering the above, the aim of the research, the effects of which are presented in the article, was to identify and describe the basic features distinguishing selected categories of terrorist attacks carried out in cities. In the course of the research, the duration of the terrorist event was analyzed and the critical relationships between the time and the effectiveness of neutralization and rescue operations at the scene were identified. The research method used, in addition to the observation and analysis of the literature, was a descriptive case study. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Safety and Security Assessment)

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