Ethan Nelson’s Annotated Bibliography: 3537 Words

Sorichetta, A., Nghiem, S., Masetti, M., Linard, C., & Richter, A. (2020, February 16). Transformative Urban Changes of Beijing in the Decade of the 2000s. Retrieved September 08, 2020, from https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/4/652/htm

The conductors of this research looked to answer a question regarding changing nitrogen dioxide levels in Beijing with the increased urbanization of the Chinese city and the areas surrounding it. More specifically, they looked to investigate the data regarding urbanization in Beijing with the use of satellite imaging and then plot that against the data of nitrogen dioxide density in the troposphere which they collected from an open source, specifically from the University of Bremen Data Archive.

The central harm the researchers looked to investigate was the potential effects climate change may have on the Beijing population and the wider impacts it may have on the world. This study was less concerned with the negative effects as much so as showing a definitive correlation between rising urbanization, vertical and horizontal, and rising nitrogen dioxide concentration in the troposphere. Because of this, the research topic in question was a preliminary study to establish a correlation which will be expanded on in the future.

This topic is complex in a multitude of ways, most coming from the variety of potential sources of increased nitrogen dioxide levels. While the study did establish a correlation between increasing levels of urbanization in Beijing and nitrogen dioxide concentration in the troposphere, it did not point to specific causes of the latter. This is in no doubt a limitation of the study used, that being an observational study rather than an experimental design, meaning a causal link between each factor is undeterminable. Despite the limitation of the study, the correlation linkage is a vital step in addressing the larger harm being done to the Beijing people, with increased nitrogen dioxide levels posing a potential health unfreedom.

The article relates directly to Armarya Sen’s definition of human development, that being the increase of personal freedoms. As mentioned, the central harm investigated by the study is increased nitrogen dioxide levels in the troposphere, an indicator of climate change. If this problem remains unchecked, the habitability of the planet will plummet, directly inhibiting humans from the innate freedom of life. As such, this study looks to describe a correlative linkage between unchecked urbanization and climate change which can then be built upon to uphold the freedom of life.

The dimension of human development highlighted in this study is two-fold: urbanization and climate change. Most directly, the study uses data to illustrate the mass urbanization of Beijing, vertically and horizontally. The study then poses the question of how the community can build on this correlative linkage to curb the expanse of climate change and keep the planet in a habitable state, securing the necessary freedom of life.

The developmental goal of the research is once again to find sources of climate change, in this case urbanization of Beijing is a correlative linkage. The goal from there is to stop the mass accumulation of greenhouse gases when possible, and then curb the effects if it becomes too late. In effect, the article is concerned with finding links to climate change so that others can then find solutions to stop the spread.

The authors of the study used a variety of geospatial data sets. For the variable of urbanization, the researchers used QuikSCAT satellite data which they acquired from the SeaWinds scatterometer. The researchers then treated this satellite imaging data with the Dense Sampling Method (DSM) to increase the spatial resolution of the data. For the variable of nitrogen dioxide density, the researchers used Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) for 2000-2002 and Scanning Imaging Absorption SPectrometer for Atmospheric Chartogray for 2003-2009.

Overall, the authors investigated the human development pattern of urbanization and its impact on climate change. The specific scientific question the authors sought to and did answer was whether there was a correlation between the increased urbanization of Beijing and nitrogen dioxide levels in the troposphere. They found a strong correlation between both variables using a scatter plot where the correlation coefficient was .9036 and the coefficient of determination was .821. This illustrates a positive correlation between the two variables.
Vu, T., Thy, P., & Nguyen, L. (2018, February 21). Multiscale remote sensing of urbanization ‘ in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam - A focused study of the south. Retrieved September 09, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0143622816301655

The conductors of this research sought to examine the impact urbanization has on the environment of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. More specifically, the researchers looked at how increased build up has accelerated flooding in areas of the city, pointing to the lack of infrastructure to curb the negative consequences of dramatic urbanization. For this, they looked to illustrate a clear correlation between the build up and the flooding to set the groundwork for potential solutions to the water problem. In the beginning of the article, the authors mentioned the vulnerability of Ho Chi Minh City for flooding due to its relatively low elevation. There are parts of the city which are below one meter above the sea level. They then pointed to the rising sea level as a result of climate change complications as well as their increased vulnerability due to lacking infrastructure as a catalyst for the land to be submerged by the sea by the year 2050. These complex issues and the immense risk it poses to the lives of the people living in Ho Chi Minh pushed researchers to study the correlative link between growing urbanization and risk of flooding. The article establishes a clear link to Amartya Sen’s definition of human development, that being to increase freedom. In this example, the freedom which is most put at risk is that of health. Flooding poses a threat to housing and food as it can sweep away crops and buildings all the same. These are crucial elements of basic necessities to live and their absence has dire consequences on the people it directly impacts. As an effect, the flooding for which the researchers seek to alleviate proves to be a health unfreedom. For this reason, the dimension of data science for which this article deals with health. The developmental goal of this research article is to link urbanization and flooding as having a correlative relationship. This basis gives the researchers something to build on in their attempt to decrease the risk of flooding. As well, the researchers mentioned at the end of their report their desire to further investigate the issue, tracking sewage and pipes to visualize water movement in the city and find ways to prevent costly flooding.

  The authors of this study utilized 3 types of spatial resolution to track urban development with the goal to determine which method is best: sub-one meter, 2.5 meter, and 10-15 meter. Their conclusions were that sub-one meter gave the best picture when distinguishing urban density, 2.5 meter was adequate at this task, and 10-15 meter was largely unusable. The authors used the satellite imaging from the spatial resolution to then label different classifications: built-up 1 (dense housing), built-up 2 (large but not dense housing), water, vegetation, bare, and road. These classifications with the spatial resolution produced images which showed the transformation of the landscape over the decade. 

As mentioned, the authors investigated the process of urbanization. They uncovered patterns of dense urbanization in the north of the city as well as the south. The results showed that the new buildings were built on higher ground, 2 or more meters above the ground, and experienced less flooding. However, the increased amount of housing meant that groundwater was being extracted and pushed down to lower elevations, causing a dramatic increase in flooding for those houses which were built at a lower elevation.

Saksena, S., Finucane, M., Tran, C. C., Duong, N. H., Spencer, J. H., & Fox, J. (2017, January). Does Unplanned Urbanization Pose a Disease Risk in Asia? The Case of Avian Influenza in Vietnam. Retrieved September 14, 2020, from https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/43702/api128.pdf

The central question being addressed in this article is how urbanization impacts the spread of the Avian Influenza. To analyze that question, the authors narrowed their focus on Vietnam because of its growing urbanization, large poultry market, and detailed census. The urbanization made it a good fit for showing the migration of people into cities. The poultry is the most significant way that the Avian Influenza is spread throughout the community it attacks. Lastly, the detailed Rural, Agricultural, and Fishery census taken every 5 years in Vietnam gave the researchers the proper data necessary to assess the issue.

This article clearly fits within Amartya Sen’s definition of human development. As mentioned, the problem directly addressed here is the spread of the Avian Influenza, a disease that has killed hundreds. As a result, the researchers are attempting to track influenza spread risk factors in order to quell the outbreak. The significant freedom at risk in this assessment is the innate freedom of life, the quintessential right. Without life a person is unable to enjoy any other freedoms, making it the most important to secure. For this reason, the authors are attempting to maintain that freedom to life so that the Vietnamese population can enjoy their other freedoms.

The sustainable development goal addressed by this article is once again life. The authors are attempting to assess characteristics of an area which puts them at risk of a potential outbreak. In the same vain, they wish to understand whether urbanization itself has a relationship with the Avian Influenza spread in an area. With this information, the authors seek to propose a sustainable plan to maintain the freedom of life for the people so they can live freer lives.

The authors used a combination of conventional and new methods of data science as was proposed by Blumenstock. The conventional method used in this study was the Rural, Agricultural, and Fishery census data collected by the Vietnamese government every 5 years. The method which is newer in comparison is satellite imaging. The two methods were used in combination to attain a thorough understanding of the developing Vietnamese landscape and to classify the living arrangements as rural, peri-urban, urban, or urban core.

The results of the research were successful in indicating the at risk factors of a community for the spread of the Avian Influenza. Those at risk factors included but were not limited to the use diversity of land, population density of poultry, proximity to a national highway, concentration of rice and aquaculture, and the amount of water pooling that occurs. These characteristics were found to be common within peri-urban communities which had a 1.5x higher risk of an Avian Influenza outbreak than the standard rural and urban population. The proposed solution based on these facts is to vaccinate the poultry every commercial cycle only in the peri-urban areas. The final conclusion was that urbanization was not a factor in the spread of the Avian Influenza, but unplanned urbanization with a lack of crucial infrastructure was.
Dang, A., & Kumar, L. (2017, November 03). Application of remote sensing and GIS-based hydrological modelling for flood risk analysis: A case study of District 8, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. Retrieved September 17, 2020, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19475705.2017.1388853?src=recsys

The authors of this study addressed the question of which areas of Ho Chi Minh city were at greater risk of flooding as urbanization continues to increase. Using remote sensing techniques, the researchers looked to create a model of the landscape and then to make predictions on water runoff and flooding using that model. The goal of this study was then to predict which areas are most at risk as well as to identify trends in flooding in the area.

Flooding has been a persistent problem in Vietnam due to the low elevation in regards to sea level and the swamp land. In Ho Chi Minh specifically, there is a large array of rivers and bodies of water which flank and intersect the city, putting it at risk of extreme flooding. The issue is made more complex by the changing type of land, as more concrete and impervious materials are used in commercial centers, replacing the water absorbent ground that once was in its place. As such, the problem is inherent to the country and the variety of variables in flooding makes it a complex issue which must be addressed in the city.

The significant harm addressed in this article is flooding and how that affects the individuals of a population. Flooding not only ruins the homes that people live in, but also destroys the crops that they grow in order to survive. For this reason, the article researchers’ goal aligns with Amartya sen’s definition of freedom perfectly. The researchers want to predict flooding patterns and at risk areas in order to establish preventive measures to secure each individual’s freedom of not only life, but free trade. If flooding were allowed to persist, it would squander the ability for farmers to participate in the market by destroying crops while at the same time posing a serious threat to their health and well being. The same is true for urban vendors who would have to stand by and watch their store or place of business be washed away by sometime 100 cm deep flooding. As such, the researchers human development goal is to predict and prevent flooding patterns so as to ensure the people’s right to economic and health freedoms.

The developmental goal of the article is to map flooding in the city, addressing the regions which are most negatively affected by the ailment as well as predicting which areas may be at risk in the future. In the context of Amartya Sen’s definition of development, the researchers aim to increase the health and economic freedoms of the people by removing the unfreedom of natural disaster. The model they create is sustainable due to its predictive features rather than a stagnant view of the city during one time.

The geospatial datasets used by the researchers include QuickBird Imagery and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) collected from the Department of National Remote Sensing Vietnam. These data were collected to understand the elevation and elevation type to create digital elevation models. Furthermore, the authors used the QuickBird imagery to classify the satellite images into distinct classifications: water bodies, traffic routes, construction land, bare land, and green areas. These classifications offered a labeled view of the city to understand terrain features and locate areas of urbanization.

The geospatial methods used by the authors included a TR-55 model which is a series of equations to better understand the runoff of the landscape. The series of equations initially takes into account the rainfall, potential retention before runoff starts, and the initial abstraction. Later, the method takes into account the aforementioned classification, flow length, and channel slope. Together, these variables produce an accurate prediction of the amount of runoff.

The results of the study indicate that rainfall flooding is less of a concern than tidal. Rainfall flooding resulted in waters that ranged in depth from 2-10 centimeters. Contrarily, Tidal flooding resulted in water that ranged in depth from 10-100 centimeters. These findings show that rainfall flooding is not an immediate threat in the same way that tidal flooding is. Moreover, the data illustrated that rainfall flooding was common in the north of Ho Chi Minh while the tidal flooding most heavily affected the southern side. For these reasons, tidal flooding is the problem which must be addressed first.

In continuation with these conclusions, the data present a strong negative correlation between impervious land area and run off numbers, with a coefficient of determination of -.86. This shows that urbanization must be planned with careful consideration. Impervious materials that make up other areas of the world. As well, the residents of Ho Chi Minh need to make sure to better improve water drainages not only in developing areas, but also older areas which have outdated water management systems.
Hoang, T., Nasahara, K., & Katagi, J. (2017, October 05). Analysis of Land Cover Changes in Northern Vietnam Using High Resolution Remote Sensing Data. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-68240-2_9

The researches aimed to identify the significant harm of changing land use and how that affects crop land. The intended to better understand this harm by creating a geospatial map using remote sensing techniques and bayesian models to accurately label the growing areas into 9 different categories. The problem is inherently complex because it is accompanied by a growing trend of urbanization led by a booming economy. This is pushing residents into cities to live closer to one another while also transforming the landscape. This has the inadvertent effect of decreasing crop land and other vital areas for survival. Using geospatial data allows the researchers to have a literal top down view of the changes as they have occured over an 8 year period, a view they would be blind to without remote sensing. In addition, the researchers scientific question was how they could map the area using 15 meter spatial resolution remote sensing, a finer resolution than had been previously used.

As mentioned, the researchers are investigating the changing landscape and how that impacts the amount of crop land near the cities. With this context, the author’s goals fit into Amartya Sen’s definition of development as they seek to protect the people’s freedom of life and economy. Crop land has a relationship with the food that a city has, and because the government is a one party socialist republic, the country is at risk of famine. For this reason, the researcher’s look to predict crop land reduction and to avert the crisis before it comes.

The sustainable development goal is to understand the land usage of North Vietnam. The geospatial model allows the researchers to clearly understand how the land of Vietnam is being used and to better predict changes in the future. As mentioned, the dimension of human development is agriculture and securing the freedom of life and economic development. With decreasing crop production from decreased cropland farmers will be unable to participate in the open market. By understanding the negative effects of the continued reduction in cropland in favor of urbanization, the Vietnamese will be able to better secure farmer’s freedom to economic participation.

The authors used a variety of geospatial data sets, including multi-temporal and multi-sensor satellite imagery. In addition, they used Surface Reflectance products of 140 landsat-5Tm and 199 Landsat-8OLI from the United State Geological survey. They also used ASTER data from the MADAs system of the Japanese National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. For reference data the researchers used visual interpretation of google earth images and field surveys.

With these data the researchers constructed a bayesian interface kernel-based probabilistic classification. This allowed the algorithm to have the training set and then identify the landscape of the area, building a generative model. The 9 classifications it was able to identify were water, urban and built up, rice, other crops, grasslands, orchards, barren, forest, and mangrove. This resulted in 2 maps of Northern Vietnam, with the classifications for 2007 and 2015 alike for comparison.

From the data and maps generated, the researchers reached a few conclusions. They discovered a decreasing trend in the cropland area accompanied by an increasing trend of water area. Similarly, they illustrated a decrease in grassland accompanied by an increase in forest area, most likely used for rubber production. These results predict an unlikable future for the area, as cropland decreases so is likely that crop yield follows. This leaves the area at an increased risk of malnourishment or even worse, famine. As such, measures must be put in place to decrease the risk of malnourishment and to ensure cropland or yields stay at respectable levels.

Area of Further Research and its Complexities

Based on my investigation above, I intend on continuing my focus on Vietnam and its urban areas. The specific area of inquiry remains on urbanization and its impact on the health of the individuals, as I think this is critical for understanding the increase in city populations with unchecked growth. This impact on health most specifically stems from the inadvertent effect urbanization has on the environment and how that impacts the people living there.

The issue is complex in the Vietnamese area for a variety of reasons. The clearest is the area’s ever increasing economic growth which is incentivising urbanization. With an increase in the people who are flocking to urban areas, there is a need for quick and cheap urban expansion. This combination is costly as it incentivizes hastily thrown together plans that have no care for the long term impacts. This sentiment echoed clearly throughout my bibliography as researchers illustrated poor urban design negatively impacting the amount of flooding or how it was diminishing the amount of cropland vital for survival. For these reasons, we must better understand the negative impacts of unchecked and unplanned urbanization so as to avert it in developing areas in the country.

Furthermore, the Vietnamese landscape is filled with greenery and bodies of water which flank these urban areas. As such, some areas are not conducive to conventional urban development. As mentioned in the 4th source of my bibliography, the use of impervious material which often fills out urban areas leads to an increased risk of flooding. This directly impacts the people and puts their health and economic freedoms at risk, as it has the ability to level their house and business alike.

The complexities of the area along with the growing urbanization incentive make it imperative to better understand the ill effects of unplanned city growth and how it impacts the environment. Vietnam serves as a crucial focal point because of its multitude of factors playing into this city growth, most clearly the booming economy, unique landscape, and potential environmental risks in the years to come as a result of the changing climate. For these reasons, Vietnam serves as an interesting and important case study to not only attempt to alleviate the ailments of the area, but also to serve as a groundwork for similar areas in the future.