Aura-Luciana Istrate

Urban mobility monitoring requires accurate, real-time object detection under the computational constraints of edge devices. This study develops a lightweight deep learning model to support Citizen-led Automated Modal Infrastructure Analytics (CAMINA), a community-driven approach that emphasizes active transportation modes. We present an edge-optimized object detection pipeline based on YOLO11n, the nano variant of YOLO11, designed for low-power deployment. The model detects nine road user classes: person, cyclist, e-scooter, car, SUV, motorcycle, bus, delivery van, and truck. A hybrid labeling strategy combining YOLO11 (for COCO classes) and YOLO-World (for open-vocabulary detection) was applied to annotate 1,895 urban images with semi-automated assistance and manual correction. Comparative experiments across YOLO variants (YOLOv5n, YOLOv8n, YOLO11n) show that our optimized YOLO11n achieves 0.56 mAP@0.5 at 15 fps on a Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB RAM) with a size of 10 MB. These results demonstrate practical feasibility for distributed, citizen-led monitoring using low-cost devices. By combining edge-optimized performance with a community-centered deployment model, CAMINA offers a scalable and privacy-preserving approach to urban mobility analytics. While broader validation across diverse city contexts remains necessary, this work highlights the potential of citizen-led sensing to complement traditional traffic monitoring and support active mobility planning.

This study investigates how perceived safety and interpersonal experiences in public space influence the comfort of walking in urban environments, using data from a recent survey conducted in Zagreb, Croatia. The survey collected 430 responses on walking comfort alongside perceived safety, reported conflicts with other space users (drivers, cyclists, pedestrians), and demographic background. Results indicate a strong and statistically significant association between walking comfort and perceived safety, suggesting that individuals who feel safer are also more likely to report a higher comfort level when walking. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between unpleasant interactions with other space users and lower comfort levels. In contrast, demographic variables such as gender and the presence of children in the household showed no significant relationship. These findings highlight the critical role of perceived safety and social dynamics in shaping walkability. The results have implications for urban design and policy, reinforcing the need to prioritise pedestrian-friendly environments that foster physical safety and positive social interactions.

Walkability is essential for promoting sustainable mobility, public health, and urban vitality in cities. This article examines the perceived importance of urban design qualities (UDQ) on walkability in Czech city centres. Based on expert ratings in questionnaires (n = 46) and a follow-up workshop (n = 8), the study provides an expert-weighted framework for planning institutions. The research determined that according to experts, the two most significant UDQ are Tidiness (19.7%) and Safety & Sensations (19.2%). This result, where UDQs such as Complexity and Imageability were lower ranked, contrasts with findings in Western countries and confirms that the importance of basic walking conditions (safety and maintenance) still persists in Czech city centres. The most important individual indicators that shape attractive walkable urban environments in the Czech Republic are Traffic Density & Speed, Street Furniture, the Condition of Buildings, Pavements and Vegetation. Based on this empirical evidence, insights relevant to the broader Central and Eastern Europe are discussed.

Traditional urban planning frequently overlooks Children’s Independent Mobility (CIM) – the developmental stage where children begin to navigate their environment without adult supervision. Current educational methods often fail to bridge the ‘knowledge-behaviour gap’ which represents the disconnect between knowing traffic safety rules and applying them in real-world situations. To address this, this study presents a site-specific geogame using a Minecraft digital twin of two school neighbourhoods in Utrecht, Netherlands. Both the game environment and the engagement process were co-designed with traffic-focused local authorities to ensure relevance to real issues. Primary school children navigated the virtual environment and responded to embedded spatial questionnaires regarding traffic safety rules around their schools. The results demonstrate that this approach shifts children’s roles from passive learners to active ‘citizen-experts’. Analysis of in-game movement and chat logs revealed specific spatial insights actionable for planners, including the identification of perceived danger zones and preferred shortcuts. The study concludes that geogames may offer a scalable method to capture children’s situated spatial knowledge and effectively integrate their perspectives into the urban design process.

Urban heat disproportionately affects communities with pre‐existing vulnerabilities, while their engagement in decision‐making remains scarce. This systematic scoping review defines a theoretical framework (considering vulnerability factors, adaptation options, engagement levels and community stances) to examine challenges in addressing heat stress through community engagement. While emphasizing the Global South, the review also includes exemplary Global North studies with transferable insights. Findings show that only one‐third of studies moved beyond the ‘Consulting’ level or a ‘Reactive’ stance. Although the community sample size showed no consistent link to engagement effectiveness, higher engagement, particularly fostering ‘Interactive/Participative’ stances, was associated with more context‐sensitive and inclusive outcomes. Substandard housing, chronic poverty, and inadequate adaptation funding emerged as compounding vulnerability factors linked to systemic neglect and weak institutional responses. The limited access to decision‐making structures further constrained meaningful engagement. While behavioral (often self‐initiated) adaptations were the most common, institutional adaptation options (governmental programmes, regulatory frameworks, economic mechanisms) emerged as indispensable in addressing structural barriers and enabling long‐term resilience. Framed through a climate justice lens, this review proposes a Community‐Based Adaptation Planning Process that embeds engagement across all planning stages. By aligning recognitional, procedural, distributive, and corrective justice, the staged process offers a practical pathway toward more equitable urban heat adaptation and contributes timely evidence to IPCC AR7 priorities. This article is categorized under: Climate, Nature, and Ethics > Climate Change and Global Justice Integrated Assessment of Climate Change > Assessing Climate Change in the Context of Other Issues Climate and Development > Urbanization, Development, and Climate Change

This study evaluates the place attachments of older adults in Hasht Behesht Park, Isfahan, using a qualitative approach and Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 19 participants aged 65–93. The research reveals that place attachment is a multifaceted phenomenon encompassing place identity, place dependence, nature bonding, and social bonding. Findings show that attachment is shaped not simply by duration of residence or physical access but also by embodied routines, sensory familiarity, and intergenerational memory embedded in the park’s evolving landscape. Ancient trees and heritage elements emerge as emotional and cultural anchors, fostering a sense of belonging, sustaining intergenerational memory, and enabling social connection—including with “familiar strangers.” Notably, social bonding and the need for solitude coexist, particularly within gendered and culturally specific dynamics. The interplay between natural and social bonds is especially significant in shaping place attachment, as older adults tend to form stronger attachments to places that better meet their diverse needs. Challenges such as restricted access, poor maintenance, noise, and overcrowding can disrupt these attachments. This article contributes by revealing how gendered solitude, intergenerational memory, and emotional infrastructures—such as ancient trees, heritage elements, and interactions with “familiar strangers”—serve as affective anchors that shape place attachment among older adults. It reframes urban green spaces as emotionally and socially embedded infrastructures, shaped by vernacular ethics of care and culturally specific dynamics, thereby challenging functionalist, Global North-centric models of age-friendly urban design.

Cities need new and more integrative solutions to purposefully increase urban nature and foster meaningful human–nature connections within built environments. Although nature-based solutions (NbSs) were advanced to work with nature and benefit human well-being, translating scientific research into implementation plans that reflect anticipatory more-than-human perspectives remains challenging. This perspective article explores the potential for establishing a new interdisciplinary subfield of nature-based design and planning (NbDP) to strengthen the conceptual and methodological foundation necessary for cross-disciplinary evaluation and operationalisation of NbS within policy and practice. We introduce the NbDP matrix, consolidating NbS integration across core dimensions of (i) planning, (ii) design, (iii) implementation, and (iv) mainstreaming. Guiding principles emphasising (i) multiscale, (ii) multiperspective, (iii) multispecies, (iv) multitype NbS, and accounting for (v) synergies and trade-offs are also integrated. While critically reflecting on the subfield’s challenges and limitations, the article outlines a roadmap for future NbDP scholarship.