SDP ISSUE

International Journal of
Sustainable Development
and Planning
An international forum for interdisciplinary
communication on sustainable development and planning
Volume 4, Number 4, 2009
Coordinator
C.A
C.A.. Brebbia, Wessex Institute of Technology, UK
Special Issue
on
URBAN ENVIRONMENT PLANNING
Guest Editors
O.G
.G.. Christopoulou & S. Th. PPolyzos
olyzos
University of Thessaly, Greece
&
P.E
.E.. Samaras
Technological Educational Institute of West Macedonia
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Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009) iii
Preface to the Special Issue
This Special Issue focuses on urban space and specifically on: urban wastes, motorized road transport,
water price, citizens’ opinion about a submerged tunnel, urban greenery and air temperature. The
papers originated following a meeting organized by the Department of Planning and Regional
Development, University of Thessaly, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aristotle University
of Thessalonica, the Sector of Industrial Management and Operations Research, School of Mechanical
Engineering, the National Technical University of Athens, and the Department of Pollution Control
Technologies, TEI of West Macedonia. The first paper, proposes the valorisation of biomass wastes
as source of high-value chemical auxiliaries.
The second paper’s authors, recognising the essential role of transport to economic and social devel-
opment and simultaneously its environmental consequences, present a policy assessment framework
as contribution to a strategy for sustainable transport and mobility.
In the third paper, the authors with the aid of a questionnaire distributed amongst the Volos city
residents have evaluated the water price elasticity. Water quality, water demand and water availability
issues, water related problems, as well as public information concerning water and environmental
issues, public reactions in price changes and public willingness to pay in the residential sector, were
the main aspects examined and analyzed.
In the fourth paper, a questionnaire was used again, in order to investigate the citizens’ opinion about
the Thessalonica submerged tunnel in the frame of the utilization of social transaction between social
actors and other social partners for the sustainable development of the city.
The fifth paper concerns urban greenery and especially, it estimated the health of representative trees
and the greenery ratio in a Greek city in order to make proposals concerning the best choice of
suitable species of trees and the increase of the city greenery.
The sixth paper deals with the comparison of air temperature and thermal comfort conditions between
two mountain areas (with firs and chestnuts), a riparian and an urban area (Athens).
We deeply appreciate and would like to thank the authors for their contribution, the organizing
committee and the sponsors of the Conference. Special thanks should be given to the chairman of the
meeting, Associate Professor Athanassios Kungolos for his availability and his kind aid and to the
editors of the Journal, Professors Carlos Brebbia and Elias Beriatos, for their help and collaboration.
The guest editors are grateful to the reviewers of the special issue, for their prompt response and their
careful and objective evaluation of the papers.
Olga G. Christopoulou, Serafeim Th. Polyzos

Department of Planning and Regional Development
School of Engineering, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece
and
Petros E. Samaras
Technological Educational Institute of West Macedonia
V. Boffa et al., Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009) 291–307
URBAN WASTES AS SOURCES OF VALUABLE CHEMICALS

FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: SURFACTANTS,
DISPERSING POLYMERS AND POLYELECTROLYTES OF
BIOLOGICAL ORIGIN
V. BOFFA1, E. MONTONERI1, R. MENDICHI2, M.R. CHIEROTTI3, R. GOBETTO3, C. MEDANA4 & E. PRENESTI4
1Dipartimento di Chimica Generale ed Organica Applicata, Università di Torino, Italy.
2Istituto per lo Studio delle Macromolecole (CNR), Milano, Italy.
3Dipartimento di Chimica I.F.M., Università di Torino, Italy.
4Dipartimento di Chimica Analitica, Università di Torino, Italy.
ABSTRACT
Following previous work indicating urban wastes to be sources of valuable products with remarkable surface
activity properties, a new humic acid-like (HAL) substance (cHAL3) was isolated from green residues composted
for 7 days. This material was characterized for its chemical composition by elemental analysis, nuclear magnetic
resonance and infrared spectroscopy, and potentiometric titration of carboxylic and phenol groups, for its surface
activity properties in aqueous solution at pH 7 and for its molecular weight. The results indicate that cHAL3 has
good surface activity properties mostly due to molecules with molecular weight up to 1 kg/mol; it also contains
larger ionic polymeric molecules or aggregates with molecular weight up to 267 kg/mol. In the attempt to obtain
evidence for possible source–structure–properties relationships, cHAL3 was compared with other previously
reported HAL substances (i.e. cHAL2) isolated from the same green residues before composting and cHAL
isolated from a mix of kitchen and green residues composted for 15 days. The results show that cHAL3 and
cHAL2 have slightly different chemical compositions but similar surface activity properties in aqueous solution
at pH 7 (i.e. critical micellar concentration (cmc) 0.91–0.97 g/L and surface tension at the cmc (γcmc) 38 mN/m).
By comparison, the cHAL biosurfactant is less polar and less hydrophilic and exhibits enhanced surface activity
(i.e. cmc = 0.40 g/L and γcmc = 36 mN/m). Thus, composting in the 0–7-day range does not appear to result in
chemical composition changes in the isolated HAL substances, which can significantly affect surface tension
properties. However, changing both the biomass nature and the composting time seems to affect significantly
the surface activity and the content of ionic functional groups in the humic-like isolates. The results offer scope
for a long-range process and product development study aiming to the valorization of biomass wastes as source
of high-value chemical auxiliaries.
Keywords: compost, humic acid, surfactants, wastes recycling.
1 INTRODUCTION
At present, the valorization of lignocellulosic materials (LCM) constitutes a new frontier of
economically sustainable and environmentally friendly processes for the production of fuels and
chemicals [1–3]. The environmental advantages of using LCM in place of fossil sources of organic
carbon are readily envisioned in the lowering of CO2 emission. The economic sustainability of using
these materials needs, however, the solution of a number of problems. Biomasses as a source of fuel and
chemicals may be available as dedicated crops (DC) and lignocellulosic wastes (LCW). The cultivation
of plants for energy and chemical uses raises socioeconomic and moral concerns due to the subtrac-
tion of land for food supply, the expected price increase in agriculture and the rather uneven food
distribution throughout the world [4]. On the contrary, the use of wastes, such as urban organic humid
and agricultural residues, is looked upon as a promising approach to the struggle for a cleaner environ-
ment as well as for rational use of space. Both LCW and DC, however, share the problem of being
high entropy sources of organic C due to the high amount of water content and/or the low spatial
mass density. One very recent trend to face cost competition from fossil sources is the development
© 2009 WIT Press, www.witpress.com

ISSN: 1743-7601 (paper format), ISSN: 1743-761X (online), http://journals.witpress.com
DOI: 10.2495/SDP-V4-N4-291-307
292 V. Boffa et al., Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009)
of biorefineries [2, 3]. These installations fed with LCM are conceived based on the same principle
and/or technology of oil and coal refineries, i.e. to produce multiple products, including high-value
chemicals as well as fuels and power, by use of enzymatic processes or thermochemical treatments such
as pyrolysis and/or gasification to syngas. Although fascinating, these approaches must overcome
several critical points related to low product yield and/or to process high energy consumption. In this
context, composted urban wastes have rather peculiar features. They are low entropy systems and
contain high concentrations of humic-like substances (HLS) with interesting surfactant properties [5, 6].
Furthermore, HLS can be extracted using rather mild process conditions. In our previous work [7],
we have pointed out that composts are available in confined spaces and contain less water (35–55%)
and more organic matter (26–50%) than the fresh starting LCW. Furthermore, composting does not
demand any external energy supply and is carried out nowadays in public and private facilities
throughout the world. We have also reported very interesting surfactant properties for two humic-like
materials, cHAL [5] and cHAL2 [6], which were respectively, isolated in 10–12% yield from a food
kitchen–urban green residues mix composted for 15 days and from sole urban green wastes before
composting. These products have been shown to perform as well as major commercial synthetic
surfactants in a few important chemical technological applications such as textile dyeing [7], fabric
washing [8] and soil remediation [9]. Since composting is likely to yield a wide range of different
products depending on the initial wastes mix and on the composting time [10, 11], we have undertaken
a long-range process and product development project funded by Italian Regione Piemonte. The
project aims to isolate products from biomass wastes and to establish source–structure–properties
relationships for products to be recycled to the market as valuable chemical auxiliaries. This paper
investigates the chemical nature and the surface activity of a new biosurfactant hereinafter named
cHAL3. This material was isolated from urban green wastes after 7-day composting. The product is
compared to the previously reported cHAL and cHAL2 isolates that were extracted from biomasses
differing in composition and/or composting time. Hence, the comparison between the above three
materials can provide hints for understanding changes of chemical composition and/or structure
for HLS isolated from different biomasses.
2 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
All reagents were Aldrich products, unless otherwise indicated. Ground urban green wastes from
separate source collection in the city of Torino (Italy), consisting of public park trimmings and private
yard gardening residues, were collected after 7 days composting and extracted according to a known
procedure [5] to yield the humic acid-like (HAL) material (cHAL3) investigated in this work. The
above compost was treated for 24 h at 65°C under N2 with aqueous 0.1 mol/L NaOH and 0.1 mol/L
Na4P2O7 at 1:50 w/v compost/solution ratio. The resulting suspension was cooled to room temperature
and centrifuged at 6000 rpm for 20 min. The supernatant solution was separated. The solid residue
was washed repeatedly with distilled water until the supernatant liquid phase was clear. All collected
liquid fractions were mixed and acidified with 50% sulfuric acid to pH < 1.5. The precipitated cHAL3
fraction was separated by centrifugation as above, washed with water until the final washing had
neutral pH, vacuum dried at 60°C and weighed. The extraction yield for the final cHAL3 product was
12% of compost dry matter. This material was found to contain 6.3% water, 91.7% volatile solids
and 1.9% ash by the weight losses measured after heating first at 105°C and then at 800°C. Further
characterization for cHAL3 was performed by elemental analysis, solid state 13C and solution 1H
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, infrared (IR) spectroscopy and surface tension
measurements as previously reported [5, 6]. The determination of the proportion of free phenol and
carboxylic acid groups (Table 1) was accomplished by potentiometric titration according to a previously
reported procedure [6, 12]. Under our experimental conditions, deionized water was boiled under
V. Boffa et al., Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009) 293
Table 1: Dataa for HAL matter isolated from urban wastes under different composting conditions:
cHAL3 isolated in this work and cHAL2 [6] and cHAL [5] from previous work.
Empirical formula
C COOH ArOH
Compost Substance (w/w %) C H N O S pH (meq/g) (meq/g)
Kitchen–green cHAL [5] 59.9 10 13.4 0.86 3.4 0.036 4.00 1.10 1.90
wastes after
15 days
Green wastes cHAL2 [6] 57.9 10 12.6 0.63 3.0 0.018 3.96 2.91 0.87
at start
Green wastes cHAL3 56.5 10 11.0 0.78 2.9 0.026 4.00 3.00 2.50
after 7 days
aC content (w/w %) in ash-free dry matter, elements/atoms in empirical formula, pH of a water
suspension (12 mg/30 mL) containing 0.01 N NaCl, free carboxylic (COOH) and phenol (ArOH)
groups by potentiometric titration.
nitrogen to remove dissolved CO2. This water was used to make the required sample and reagent
solutions. The cHAL3 sample was dissolved at 0.6 g/L concentration in 1 N KOH. The total alkali
content in the solution was in excess relative to the total cHAL3 carboxyl and phenoxide content
(Table 2) determined by 13C NMR spectroscopy. This solution with pH about 13.8 was titrated with
standardized 1 N aqueous HCl. Similar titration was performed on a blank solution containing the same
amount of alkali as the above sample solution, but no cHAL3. The titrations were performed at 25°C
using an automatic Cryson Compact Titrator with a resolution of 1 µL of titrant in a thermostated
glass cell under nitrogen blanketing to prevent dissolution of atmospheric CO2 in the sample. 1H NMR
spectra in 3 M NaOD-D2O solution were recorded on a JEOL EX 400 (B0 = 9.4 T, 1H operating
frequency = 399.78 MHz) spectrometer. A standard presaturation sequence was used in order to
delete the proton signal arising from the water protons. Solid-state 13C-NMR spectra were acquired
at 67.9 MHz on a JEOL GSE 270 spectrometer equipped with a Doty probe. The cross-polarization
magic angle spinning (CPMAS) technique was employed and for each spectrum about 104 free
induction decays were accumulated. The pulse repetition rate was set at 0.5 s, the contact time at 1 ms,
the sweep width was 35 KHz and MAS was performed at 5 kHz. Under these conditions, the NMR
technique provides quantitative integration values in the different spectral regions [13]. Chemical
shifts of NMR resonances are referred to tetramethylsilane. The HAL materials were characterized
for their distribution of organic C and functional groups that were obtained according to the assump-
tion underlying the following equations: PhOR = PhO- – PhOH (PhO- calculated from Table 2,
PhOH from Table 2, R = alkyl); CON = COX – COOH, (COX calculated for carboxyl in Table 2
COOH from Table 1); N-alkyl = N – CON (N from Table 1 and CON as above); OCH3 = Z – N-alkyl
(Z calculated from total methoxy and N-alkyl carbon in Table 2).
Surface tension (γ, mN/m) measurements of aqueous solutions containing cHAL3 at variable
concentration (Cw = 0.005–2 g/L) were carried out at 25°C with a Kruss K100 automatic tensiometer
as described in previous work [5]. IR spectra were recorded on a cHAL3 sample-KBr pellet using a
FTIR-8400 Shimadzu (Shimadzu, Japan). Dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements were
obtained with a ZetaSizer® (Malvern, UK), which has a detection window included between about
0.6 nm and 5 μm. The measurements were conducted at pH 7.0 and 25°C after filtering the cHAL3
sample solution on a cellulose acetate disk (Schleicher & Schuell) with a size cut-off of 0.8 μm. The
294
Table 2: Assignments by chemical shift (δ, ppm) ranges and relative area of 13C CPMAS NMR bands and C distribution per molecular fragment
containing two aromatic rings.
Aliphatic C
bonded to other
aliphatic chain
or to H
Short Long Total O-CH3 or Di-O-alkyl Aromatic Phenoxide
Assignment chain chain aliphatic C N-alkyl C O-Alkyl C C C (PhO-), C Carboxyl C Keto C
Band δ range (ppm) 0–32 32–53 0–53 53–63 63–95 95–110 110–140 140–160 160–185 185–215
cHAL
Band relative area (%) 32.3 12.9 45.2 8.4 9.2 3.5 14.8 6.8 11.5 0.6
C distribution for two 18.3 7.3 25.6 4.7 5.2 2.0 12.0 6.5 0.3
aromatic rings
cHAL2
C distribution for 30.4 9.5 39.9 5.5 9.7 3.0 12.0 6.2 3.9
two aromatic rings
cHAL3
V. Boffa et al., Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009)
C distribution for 20.0 10.1 30.1 5.6 9.4 3.0 12.0 6.8 2.8
two aromatic rings
CONTIN method [14] was used to analyze the DLS data for calculating the hydrodynamic diameter
(DH) of the molecules or aggregates in solution. Electrospray ionization measurements mass spec-
trometry (ESI-MS) analyses were performed using a LTQ Orbitrap high-resolution spectrometer
(Thermo, Rodano, Italy), with electrospray interface and ion trap as mass analyzer. The flow
injection effluent was delivered into the ion source using nitrogen as sheath and auxiliary gas (flow
rate 10 µL/min). The source voltage was set at 4.0 kV in the negative ion mode. The heated capillary
was maintained at 270°C. The tuning parameters adopted for the ESI source were the following:
source current 100 μA, capillary voltage ±9 V and tube lens ±100 V. Mass spectra were collected in
full-scan positive and negative mode in different ranges between 200 and 1500 m/z. Molecular
investigation was performed also through fractionation and characterization by a multi-angle light
scattering (MALS) detector on-line to a size exclusion chromatography (SEC) system. The SEC-MALS
system consisted of an Alliance 2690 separation module, a 2414 differential refractometer (DRI) from
Waters (Milford, MA, USA) and a MALS Dawn DSP-F photometer from Wyatt (Santa Barbara, CA,
USA). This multi-detector SEC-MALS system was described in detail previously [15]. The wave-
length of the MALS laser was 632.8 nm. The light scattering signal was detected simultaneously at
15 scattering angles ranging from 14.5° to 151.3°. The calibration constant was calculated using
toluene as standard, assuming a Rayleigh factor of 1.406 × 10−5/cm. The angular normalization was
performed by measuring the scattering intensity of a concentrated solution of bovine serum albumin
globular protein in the mobile phase assumed to act as an isotropic scatterer. The refractive index
increment, dn/dc, with respect to the solvent was measured by a KMX-16 DRI from LDC Milton
Roy (Riviera Beach, FL, USA). The dn/dc value for cHAL3 was 0.214 mL/g. The HAL substance
dissolution procedure and the SEC experimental conditions were quite similar to those previously
reported [16]. The starting sample solution contained cHAL3 at 1 g/L concentration in 0.01 M
K2HPO4–0.01 M KH2PO4 aqueous buffer (pH 7.0) containing 10% methanol. The same solvent was
used as SEC mobile phase under the following conditions: single aqueous Shodex OHpak KB805
column from Showa Denko (Tokyo, Japan), 35°C temperature, 0.8 mL/min flow rate and 100 µL
sample injection volume.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this paper, we report the data obtained for a new HAL substance, cHAL3, next to the data obtained
for previously reported HAL substances, cHAL [5] and cHAL2 [6]. To understand compositional
and structural differences between materials isolated from composted wastes, one should first consider
that composting is an aerobic biodegradation process of refuse biomass, leading to some mineraliza-
tion of the original organic C and N and chemical modifications of the remaining organic residue [6].
Compared to the starting biomass waste, the composted waste is generally characterized by a lower
content of polysaccharides and a relatively higher concentration of lignin-like material. Changes
also involve chemical identities. Native lignin is modified to lignin–humus. The latter material,
although not well defined, is usually characterized by the aliphatic/aromatic C ratio and by the content
of carboxylic and phenolic functional groups. The HAL organic fraction is separated from the
polysaccharide, protein, fats and other humic-like matter by extraction of the starting biomass with
alkali and precipitation of HAL at pH < 1.5. Compost products are affected by process parameters
such as the nature and source of the starting biomass and the composting time. In the case of the
HAL substances investigated in this work, composting was carried out by making 300 m3 piles of
food residues and/or urban green wastes, which were turned over once a week to guarantee biomass
aeration. A pile of this size allows the microbial degradation to occur during the thermophilic phase
where the heat generated by the biochemical reactions causes the pile temperature to raise up to
about 65–70°C and then to decrease back to the ambient temperature during 4 weeks. Whereas this
time lag is normally sufficient to achieve an environmentally acceptable biochemical stability and
volume reduction of the organic wastes, from our point of view, the optimum composting time had to
be defined only in relation to the products that could be expected and used for the intended application.
In this work, the cHAL2 and cHAL3 substances originate from the same green urban waste
sampled before (i.e. at the time the composting pile was made) and after 7 days composting. The
comparison of these two materials allows determining the effect of the composting time on the
chemical nature and properties of the HAL substance contained in the urban green biomass waste.
The cHAL material originates from a 1:1 w/w mix of urban organic humid kitchen wastes and green
residues after 15 days of composting. The comparison of this material with the other two materials
(cHAL2 and cHAL3) does not allow to separate the effect of the nature of the biomass waste from
that of the composting time. Nevertheless, it helps to indicate what type and level of changes should
be expected in the HAL isolate from changing both source and process conditions. Indeed, for real
commercialization of products of biological origin, it is most important not only to determine their
properties and level of performance in the proposed applications but also to assess the sensitivity of
properties and performance to the changes in chemical composition caused by the source and the
process variability.
Many plausible virtual molecular models are reported in literature to aid understanding source–
structure–properties relationships for polymeric HLS. These models contain several organic moieties
that represent the memory of the main molecular constituents of the starting biomass left over by the
biodegradation of polysaccharides, proteins, lipids and lignin. Many of these models are based on
the monomer concept of Flag [5] using an oxyphenylpropyl (OPhPr) unit as a building block. Figure
1 reports one model specifically proposed for our previously reported cHAL material [5]. Although
accounting satisfactorily for the experimental analytical data reported in Tables 1 and 2 for cHAL,
this model remains virtual. In reality, several questions remain unsolved for HLS, a major one being
the rather wide molecular weight distribution. Thus, a range of different molecular fragments and
molecules with greater and lower molecular weight than that of the fragment represented in Fig. 1 is
likely to compose cHAL. Also, other representations combining the same organic moieties in several
other ways could certainly be drawn and fit the experimental data as well. Nevertheless, we like to
N N
O O
O O O
HO O O
O N N O
g
b O
g N
b
O a
a O
OH
OH
Figure 1: Proposed molecular fragment for cHAL [5]. H bonded to C omitted; sinusoidal bold lines
indicate other fragments (C, O, N atoms).
show here again the model in Fig. 1 because we feel that the conversion of a set of numbers as in
Tables 1 and 2 into a graphical, although virtual, representation helps the reader to have a longer
memory of the nature of the investigated materials and their differences.
Previous works [10, 11] report significant changes in HAL matter isolated from compost upon
increasing the composting time over 4 weeks, i.e. a decrease of the H/C, O/C, C=O/Ar, alkyl/Ar,
OMe/Ar, OX/Ar, X = carbohydrate and/or protein residue. This suggests that HAL tends to become
less polar and more aromatic. In our case, this trend is evidenced by comparing cHAL2 and cHAL3
isolated from the same green urban biomass waste, but at the start and after 7 days of the composting
process. For these two isolates, the elemental composition data reported in Table 1 confirm the
decrease of the H/C ratio upon increasing the composting time. Coherently, the concentration data
for the organic moieties reported in Table 2, as measured by 13C NMR, show a large decrease (25%)
of the alkyl/aryl C ratio for cHAL3 compared with cHAL2.
The relative decrease of the aliphatic moieties was also supported by IR spectroscopy. In the IR
spectra of the two materials, two bands were identified, one with its peak absorbance centered at
2920 cm−1 and arising from the aliphatic C–H stretching vibration, the other centered at 1383 cm−1 and
arising from the aromatic ring skeletal vibrations [17]. For cHAL3, the ratio of the area of the former
band to that of the latter band turned out to be nearly half that for cHAL2. Aside from the decrease of
the aliphatic to aromatic C ratio, no other significant differences involving the other organic moieties
or functional groups were evident by comparing the cHAL2 and cHAL3 isolates originating from
the same green waste composted for 0 and 7 days, respectively. The data in Table 2, however, show that
compared to the cHAL matter obtained from the kitchen–green wastes mix composted for 15 days,
cHAL2 and cHAL3 have almost double the content of O-alkyl C and 50% higher content of
di-O-alkyl C. This suggests a quite higher content of carbohydrate [18] and/or oxyalkyl moieties in
the two HAL isolates from the biomass waste containing green residues only. This observation is
supported also by the relatively higher intensities of the methine and/or methylene proton resonance
signals at 2.9–4.3 ppm reported in Fig. 2 for cHAL2 and cHAL3 compared to cHAL. In addition to
the higher content of C–O and O–C–O functional groups, the data show that cHAL2 and cHAL3
contain more free carboxylic acid and less amide functional groups than cHAL.
Figure 3 is a graphical representation for the distribution of organic moieties and functional groups in
the three HAL isolates being compared. Aside from the difference in aliphatic C content, no other great
differences are observed between cHAL3 and cHAL2. On the contrary, cHAL differs from cHAL3 and
cHAL2 mostly for the lower alkyl/aryl C ratio, the lower content of C–O and COOH functional groups
and the higher content of amide functional groups. Thus, the most apparent difference between these
materials is that cHAL3 and cHAL2 are expected to be more ionic and hydrophilic than cHAL.
As previous work on cHAL and cHAL2 indicated [6–9] that the potential technological appeal of
the HAL isolates from biomass wastes might lie on their surface activity properties in solution, we
characterize all our HAL isolates by their surface tension versus concentration plots such as those
shown in Fig. 4. Surfactant properties for the cHAL isolates are expected to be based on their chemical
structure, i.e. presence of hydrophobic C chains and hydrophilic polar groups. Typical synthetic
surfactants belong to several categories depending on their chemical structural parameters, e.g. the
non-ionic polyoxyethylenes, alkanolamides, sugar esters, alkyl polyglycosides, alkyl glucosamides
and the anionic surfactants comprising a carboxylate moiety or sulfate and sulfonate groups.
To understand the plots in Fig. 4, it should be considered that when surfactants are in solution as
single molecules, these lie at the air–water interface to expose the lowest possible hydrophobic surface
to water. At higher concentration, when the air–water interface is saturated, the excess surfactant
molecules aggregate forming micelles in the bulk water phase. In this form, several molecules are held
together by intermolecular forces to yield spherical or quasi-spherical clusters where hydrophobic
Figure 2: Distribution of the H atoms in cHAL, cHAL2 and cHAL3 as calculated by 1H NMR. The
spectra were measured on samples dissolved in 3 M NaOD in D2O. The distributions were
normalized without taking into account the phenolic and carboxylic acid protons that
exchange with the solvent deuterium atoms.
surfaces stay in the inner micellar core and polar heads are directed toward the water phase. Such
arrangement is ideal to host hydrophobic molecules in the inner micellar core, thus enhancing their
water solubility. In this fashion, micelle formation is responsible for the technological performance
of surfactants in many applications. As to the effects of these events on the surface tension of water,
for simple surfactant molecules with one polar head and a relatively long hydrophobic C tail, one
should in principle expect a surface tension (γ) versus the logarithm of the concentration (C) plot,
where two clear linear regimes, premicellar and postmicellar, are evidenced. The intersection of the
two straight lines gives the critical micellar concentration (cmc) at which the formation of molecular
aggregates occurs. Oligomeric surfactants, such as the gemini surfactants [5], show a gradual transi-
tion between the two regimes, whose extension may be very large. These surfactants are made of
molecules in which two or more polar groups are connected by lipophilic chains of variable length.
Their oligomeric or polymeric nature is a key point in determining their capacity to micellize .The
same could be expected for the HAL substances studied in this work, which according to Table 2 and
Fig. 3 have most of the above-cited polar groups. Indeed, the γ–C plots shown in Fig. 4 for cHAL3
and cHAL2 show three regions that can be distinguished by the different value of the curve slope.
The region at C ≥ 0.91 g/L, where the slope is almost horizontal, can be assigned to the presence of
micellar aggregates [18]. In the region at lower concentration, a second change of slope is observed,
i.e. at ca. 0.2 g/L for cHAL2 and ca. 0.6 g/L for cHAL3. This second change of slope may correspond
to the concentration at which premicellar aggregates start forming in the aqueous solution, as already
reported for other sugar-based surfactants [18]. The values for the cmc and the surface tension at the
cmc (γcmc) of the three HAL isolates are reported in Table 3. It may be observed that all three substances
have rather strong surface activity inasmuch as they are capable of lowering by nearly 50% the water
Figure 3: Distribution of organic C and functional groups in cHAL, cHAL2 and cHAL3. Concentration
values (mmol/g of humic-like material) calculated as reported in Section 2.
surface tension at their cmc value. For this behavior and for their biological origin, the three substances
may be referred to as biosurfactants. The two biosurfactants isolated from the same green residue
biomass before (cHAL2) and after (cHAL3) composting have rather similar values for both the cmc
and γcmc, and these are rather higher than the corresponding values for cHAL. This overall behavior
seems correlated to the chemical composition data discussed above for the materials under consid-
eration. The higher degree of hydrophilicity expected for cHAL2 and cHAL3 is likely to hinder
micelles formation [18, 19] from these substances compared to cHAL.
One structural feature of HAL material which is currently a matter of dispute is its molecular
weight [20]. It has not been established if HAL substances are polymeric molecules containing
covalent bonds only or aggregates of small molecules linked by hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic
interactions. The dispute over the molecular weight is not only academic but also has relevance in
relation to the performance of these materials as surfactants [7–9]. Indeed, small molecules need to
micellize for best performance, whereas polymeric molecules with carboxylic functional groups may
act as dispersants of hydrophobic molecules and therefore may perform satisfactorily at concentrations
lower than that expected based on the cmc value. Assessing the size of the molecules would therefore
make possible to establish structure–properties relationships and then to use these in order to exploit
the full potential of the material for specific technological applications.
Figure 4: Surface tension versus concentration for cHAL2 and cHAL3 water solution at pH 7.
Table 3: Critical micellar concentration (cmc) and surface tension at the cmc (γcmc) for cHAL3 and
the other two previously reported biosurfactants.
Biosurfactant cmc (g/L) γcmc (mN/m)
cHAL 0.40 36.1
cHAL2 0.97 37.8
cHAL3 0.91 38.4
In our previous work [6], the size and mass distributions of cHAL2 were analyzed by three different
techniques, i.e. ESI-MS, SEC-MALS and DLS. This analysis suggested that cHAL2 consists of
both macromolecules and small molecules. However, only the latter ones are able to form micelles
when dissolved above a certain concentration. A similar analysis has been carried out for cHAL3
and the results are compared here to the data obtained for cHAL2.
DLS is a well-established technique for measuring particle size over the 10−10 to 10−6 m range [21].
DLS measures the velocity at which particles within a solvent diffuse due to Brownian motion. This
is done by monitoring the fluctuation in intensity of the scattered light over the time. Indeed, the
scattered intensity due to the phase addition of the moving particles is constantly evolving, depending
on the particle size. The Brownian diffusion velocity is inversely proportional to the particles size,
expressed as hydrodynamic diameter (DH). As this technique allows the determination of particle
size distributions in solution at variable concentration, and therefore allows the calculation of the
hydrodynamic diameter of the molecules or aggregates in solution, we performed DLS measurements
for cHAL3 in aqueous solution at pH ∼ 7 and two concentration values, 3 and 0.3 g/L, which are,
respectively, comprised in the region above the 0.91 g/L cmc value and in the region below the 0.6 g/L
concentration value at which premicellar aggregates form (see Fig. 4 and Table 3). A similar analysis
performed for sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate [6], a well-known commercial anionic surfactant,
gave DH values of 2–3 nm above the cmc value and no significant value below the cmc value of the
surfactant. Analogously, for cHAL3 we were expecting a larger hydrodynamic diameter at 3 g/L than
at 0.3 g/L. From the plots in Fig. 5, it may however be observed that, contrary to the expectations,
no significant change of DH with cHAL3 concentration is evidenced.
The results suggest that cHAL3 consists of particles with sizes included between 10 and 100 nm
and that this particle size distribution does not change upon changing the sample concentration. An
average DH of 28 nm was extrapolated from both the distributions presented in Fig. 5. Very similar
results were reported also in the case of cHAL2; a 24-nm DH value was measured regardless of
concentration being above or below the biosurfactant cmc value [6]. The DH values obtained for
cHAL3 and cHAL2 are well comparable to the particle size found by the same DLS measurements
on a reference humic acid sample isolated from Suwannee River and supplied by the International
Humic Substance Society (St Paul, USA), which was analyzed in solution at pH 7 and 0.04 g/L
concentration [22]. The sizes measured for cHAL3 and cHAL2 do not imply the absence of smaller
particles. In fact, scattering intensity is inversely proportional to the sixth power of the scatter radii.
Therefore, large particles may mask the presence of smaller ones in the sample. The lack of change
of DH with the concentration of our biosurfactants, and therefore the absence of correlation between
DLS and surface tension data, suggests that the large particles observed by DLS are not responsible
for the surface tension dependence on concentration shown in Fig. 4, as their size seems unchanged
over a very wide concentration range. We therefore sought evidence for the presence of both small
molecules and macromolecules by the other two techniques, SEC-MALS and ESI-MS.
In SEC-MALS measurements, the optimization of the solubilization procedure and SEC experimental
conditions for HAL substances is not trivial. It is well known that HAL substances in aqueous solution
are strongly aggregated and may yield aggregates of various sizes. Furthermore, the aggregation extent
may be significantly affected by pH, ionic strength and type of counterion of the used solvent [23].
In addition, the SEC fractionation for these substances is problematic because column non-steric
separation could occur. Often, upon using non-optimized SEC conditions, multimodal and/or asym-
metrical chromatograms with very long tails are obtained. Under our SEC experimental conditions,
i.e. using the pH 7 buffered water and 10% methanol solvent, chromatograms without long tails were
obtained. Figure 6 shows the comparison of the concentration detector signal (DRI chromatogram) for
the cHAL2 and cHAL3 samples. Clearly, each chromatogram is composed of two major polymeric
Figure 5: Distribution of particle size as indicated by the hydrodynamic diameter (DH, nm) measured
by dynamic laser scattering in two aqueous solution at pH 7 containing cHAL3 at
concentration below (0.3 g/L) and above (3 g/L) its 0.91 g/L cmc value.
peaks and one initial ‘shoulder’. Consequently, for convenience, each chromatogram was divided in
three elution volume bands, as clearly depicted in Fig. 6, and the relative amount of each fraction
(Table 4) was estimated based on band areas.
The on-line MALS detector is able to measure both the molar mass (M) of the eluting fractions
and the dimension of macromolecules which is generally expressed as radius of gyration (Rg). The
latter parameter is measured from the angular variation of the scattering intensity. Two experimental
functions, Rg = ƒ(V) and M = ƒ(V) (where V denotes the elution volume), of the cHAL3 sample
from SEC-MALS are reported in Fig. 7.
It is well known that the M = ƒ(V) curve, i.e. the classical SEC calibration, is used to calculate the
molar mass distribution (MMD) of the polymer. Unfortunately, SEC fractionation of HAL molecules
is not simple and the calibration is not the classical monotone decreasing curve in molar mass.
Assuming a pure steric fractionation, the hypothetical cHAL3 ‘clusters’ are fractionated (sorted) on
the basis of decreasing size. Really, looking to Fig. 7, one can see a regularly decreasing in size
Rg = ƒ(V) curve. On the contrary, the M = ƒ(V) experimental function does not regularly decrease
upon increasing the elution volume. The molar mass of each HAL fraction was measured directly
from the on-line MALS detector, and the unusual course of the M = ƒ(V) experimental function
1.0
1 2 3
V cHAL2
cHAL3
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
–0.2
4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Elution Volume [mL]
Figure 6: Comparison of DRI signals of cHAL2 and cHAL3 samples. Lines indicate the elution
volume range of three chromatographic ‘peaks’, i.e. three HAL macrofractions.
Table 4: Area (%) of chromatographic band and approximate molecular weight (Mp) associated with
each band peak in order of increasing elution volume (see Fig. 6) and recovered mass.
Peak 1a Peak 2 Peak 3

Recovered
Mp Area Mp Area Mp Area mass
Sample (kg/mol) (%) (kg/mol) (%) (kg/mol) (%) (%)
cHAL2 – 7.6 97 31.0 200 61.4 86.0
cHAL3 – 7.3 186 32.6 267 60.1 87.0
aPeak associated with initial shoulder of peak 2 band.
means that the cHAL3 aggregates are not homogeneous but more or less compact depending on the
eluting fraction. In other words, based on the M = ƒ(V) experimental function depicted in Fig. 7, one
can state that the cHAL3 solutions contain very compact aggregates that correspond to the tail of the
chromatogram where the M = ƒ(V) curve suddenly increases. These aggregates are small in size and
very high in molar mass. Usually these fractions in polymers are defined as ‘microgel’. The elution
pattern shown in Fig. 7 suggests that for HAL substances the usual MMD concept of a polymer does
not make sense, and probably it is more useful to quantify the approximate molar mass of each
chromatographic peak (Mp) and the relative area of each peak as shown in Fig. 6. For both cHAL2
and cHAL3, Table 4 reports the total recovered mass calculated from the whole DRI area after an
accurate calibration of the concentration detector together with the Mp value associated to each peak.
100
Rg
10
1
4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Elution Volume [mL]
1.0E + 07
M M = f(V)
DRI
MALS 90°
1.0E + 06
1.0E + 05
1.0E + 04
1.0E + 03
4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Elution Volume [mL]
Figure 7: Rg = ƒ(V) (upper panel) and M = ƒ(V) (lower panel) experimental functions from SEC-MALS
of the cHAL3 sample.
It may be observed that the recovered mass associated to the whole chromatographic peak accounts
for 86–87% (very high) of the initial injected mass of each polymer. Considering the remarkable
fractionation problems, the Mp molar mass values shown in Table 4 could be representative of the
MMD of each sample. In general, it is evident that the two substances – cHAL2 and cHAL3 – have
quite similar molar masses and sizes.
Figure 8 shows the Rg = ƒ(M) experimental function, generally known as conformation plot, for
cHAL3 as obtained from the SEC-MALS measurements. From the estimated slope of this plot
Figure 8: Conformation plot from SEC-MALS of the cHAL3 sample: radius of gyration (Rg) as a
function of the molar mass.
(approximately 0.40–0.42) and from the very similar one previously published for cHAL2 [6], a
compact quasi-spherical conformation for both substances may be inferred. The 10–25 nm Rg values
measured by SEC-MALS are consistent with the average hydrodynamic diameter (DH = 24–28 nm)
measured by DLS. By comparison, the molecular radius of naturally occurring humic acids has been
reported to increase from 9.8 to 17.8 Å as the molar mass increases from 5,000 to 30,000 kg/mol [22 ].
Similar to DLS measurements, the SEC-MALS do not provide evidence of the presence of small
molecules in any of the samples analyzed here.
Soft desorption ionization techniques, such as ESI, volatilize large ions for identification via MS,
providing ion mass/charge distributions that may represent the mass distribution of molecules within
humic fractions [8]. By this technique, compounds may be analyzed from aqueous or aqueous/organic
solutions at variable concentrations, similar to the case of the above DSL measurements. As solvent
evaporation occurs, the droplet shrinks until it reaches the point that the surface tension can no
longer sustain the charge (the Rayleigh limit). At this point, a ‘Coulombic explosion’ occurs and the
droplet is ripped apart. This event produces smaller droplets that can repeat the process as well as
naked singly or multiply charged analyte molecules. High-resolution MS makes it possible to assign the
charge value to an ESI signal originated by an ionized molecule through the examination of the signal
isotopic peak intensity. Our ESI-MS measurements were performed on the same cHAL3 solutions,
which were analyzed by DLS, i.e. the 0.3 and 3 g/L cHAL3 solutions. The ESI-MS spectra for these
solutions collected in the negative mode exhibited signals for molar masses associated with singly
charged anions ranging from 340 to 590 m/z. The spectral pattern was the same for both solutions.
The results obtained by the above three techniques suggest the presence of small molecules
together with large macromolecules in cHAL3. The largest particles are probably not responsible for the
surface tension dependence on concentration, because their size, as shown by DLS measurements,
seems unchanged over a wide concentration range. Hence, the small molecules, detected by ESI-MS,
are likely to be the main contributors to the surface tension versus concentration profile observed in
Fig. 4. The fact that the two solutions in the premicellar and postmicellar cHAL3 concentration
ranges give similar ESI-MS spectra may indicate that the micellar aggregates do not withstand the
conditions of the ionization process. These results are consistent with those already reported for
cHAL2. For their wide molecular weight distribution, surface tension properties and the content of
ionic and/or polar carboxylic, phenol and amino groups, the humic-like materials reported in this
work have potential to perform as surfactants, dispersing polymers and/or polyelectrolytes, and
therefore offer scope for being tested in a wide range of technological applications.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Two HAL substances (cHAL2 and cHAL3) isolated from the same green biomass waste before and
after composting for 7 days, respectively, have been shown to have different chemical composition,
mostly due to lowering of the aliphatic to aromatic C ratio upon composting. These materials also
contain several other functional polar groups but do not exhibit much difference in the content of these
groups. The chemical compositional changes between cHAL2 and cHAL3 are not shown to bring a
significant change in the surface activity properties of these substances. The comparison of the two
cHAL materials with a third HAL material isolated from food and green residues composted for 15 days
shows rather significant and large effects in both chemical composition and surface activity properties
presumably ascribed to the different biomass and/or to the increase of the composting time to 15 days.
We are aware that a more powerful experimental design is necessary to isolate the effects of the compost-
ing parameters such as ingredients nature and time on product structure, properties and performance in
technological applications. Work in this direction is in progress in our laboratories. Indeed, our long-term
purpose is to build a data inventory which at some point will make it possible not only to understand
how the parameters characterizing the waste nature and the composting process influence the structure
and surfactant properties of the isolated HLS, but also to assess how much the source and structural
difference of these substances affect their performance as auxiliaries for chemical technological uses.
Acknowledgment
This work was carried out with Regione Piemonte Cipe 2004 funds for Cod. C 13 sustainable
development program.
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Motorized road transport: economic and

environmental costs – A policy assessment
framework
S. BASBAS1, M. PITSIAVA-LATINOPOULOU2 & E. ZACHARAKI3
1Department of Transportation & Hydraulic Engineering, Faculty of Rural & Surveying Engineering, School of Technology,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
2Laboratory of Transportation Engineering, Department of Transport, Infrastructure, Management and Regional Planning,
Faculty of Civil Engineering, School of Technology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

3Unit A, Managing Authority of the Operational Programme ‘Railways, Airports, Public Transport – RAPT’, Ministry of
Transport and Communications, Greece.
Abstract
Transport plays an essential role in economic and social development and in the creation of wealth for the societies.
At the same time, transport contributes considerably to many environmental problems, e.g. air pollution and
noise. According to European Commission’s statistics, in the year 2000, the transport sector contributed 29% of
all CO2 emissions in the EU, of which road transport was responsible for 83%. Another serious problem, with
environmental and economic impacts, is congestion. Building new transport infrastructure is unlikely to give a
reliable solution to any problem and thus the need for new approaches in transport policy has been recognized.
In this paper, a policy assessment framework is presented, in order to assist the responsible bodies and policy
makers to draw up a strategy for sustainable transport and mobility and to propose some simple measures for
tackling the adverse effects of road transport.
Keywords: accidents, congestion, climate change, emissions, motorized road transport, noise, sustainability.
1 Introduction
Transport is a mean to an end and not an end in itself. People travel in order to participate in activities
(work, education, shopping, recreation, etc.), and goods are transferred in order to meet their mean
and final user (production activities or consumers) in all over the world. Thus, access to activities,
products and goods is the object that transport system aims to satisfy, using any of the available
modes in the appropriate spatial levels, i.e. road and rail typically for urban environment, road, rail,
air and maritime for interurban environment (long distance travel).
Motorized road transport gives the higher level of spatial coverage, ensures better connectivity
and accessibility, forming in this way an essential element of the daily urban and interurban reality
for both passengers and goods. It is a fact that traffic volumes follow an increasing trend worldwide,
resulting in serious impacts for human health, environmental and urban quality, development patterns,
road conditions and road safety [1–4].
The excessive and continuous growth of road transport during the last 30 years can be attributed
to the following factors [4]:
• expanding economies;
• increase in consumer spending power due to increased variety of products and services;
• increase in urbanization, suburbanization and urban sprawl;
• changes in lifestyle patterns due to changes in household structure and participation to work force
(i.e. growth of two-worker households), increase of young drivers and elderly drivers, etc.;
• changes in personal travel behavior due to private car oriented travel habits, lack of adequate
alternative modes, media influence in forming behavioral travel patterns, increasing childhood
dependence on car travel, etc.

DOI: 10.2495/SDP-V4-N4-308-320
S. Basbas et al., Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009) 309
At the same time, access (or accessibility) to activities or products contributes to the level of
development for all countries and therefore transport forms main parameter for the socioeconomic
growth of regions. The strong correlation between overall gross domestic product (GDP) growth
and the expansion of transport infrastructures is well established. This correlation is even stronger
in the case of road transport – in many countries the growth exceeds the GDP – as roads still
shoulder the greater portion in both passenger and freight transport, remaining the most common
form of movement [4].
In order to promote accessibility and mobility for citizens and commodities and reduce the
adverse impact of road transport, developed and developing countries are seeking strategies to
secure individual mobility and to improve social and ecological conditions in a joint effort and
within the same framework. From this consideration, the concept of sustainability arises as a cor-
nerstone in such approaches and become a policy target: the interest is not focused any more to the
development of transport systems but to the development of sustainable transport systems [3].
The Commission’s White Paper ‘European transport policy for 2010: time to decide’ underlines
the importance and urgency of taking steps in the direction of sustainable future transport systems,
taking seriously into account the increased demand for mobility and the desire for a clean environ-
ment. Policy makers have to accommodate these conflicting desires by balancing the positive and
negative effects of transport, but they need tools in order to do so [1].
But, if the key concept for policies and strategies is ‘sustainable transport’ and more specifically
‘sustainable road transport’ a number of issues have to be defined, such as:
• What is sustainable transport?

• What is sustainable road transport?
• Which are the impacts of motorized road transport?
• Which are the components of a sustainable road transport strategy?
• Which are the available for use instruments for a sustainable strategy?
The aim of this paper is to present a framework able to assist their balancing effort, and it builds
upon the experience gathered from studies concerning the impacts of great scale transport projects
(e.g. the Egnatia motorway in Greece), a number of traffic studies and evaluations for urban centers
and of course, it borrows the EU experience in such tools (like the SUMMA project).
2 Basic concepts
Sustainability is a wide concept that accompanies almost all the functions of the contemporary society,
through the meaning of sustainable development. In general terms, sustainable development is the
development that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. This definition invokes three sub-objectives, i.e. economic
efficiency, ecological stability and social equity. In other words, it refers to achieving economic
efficiency through means that secure ecological stability and social equity.
Economic efficiency requires the positive effects on the economy resulting from the development
process and the provision of employment and goods. Ecological stability (or environmental sustain-
ability) refers to environmental protection and requires the perseverance of the environmental
balance and the prevention of the derangement by human emissions and resource use, in order to
guarantee the functional stability of present ecosystem, on local, regional and global level. At the
same time, social equity (or social sustainability) requires to meet the social and distributional needs
by ensuring a fair distribution of resources and opportunities, poverty reduction, continuous human
development, public participation and democratic policy formations.
310 S. Basbas et al., Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009)
Nevertheless, for the transport sector, sustainability can be specified in a much more detailed way.
The subject of a number of research activities undertaken in the transport field is the definition and
implementation of a sustainable transport system. The Centre for Sustainable Transportation on
1997 proposed: Sustainable transport system is one that:
• allows the basic access needs of individuals and societies to be met safely and in a manner consistent
with human and ecosystem health and with equity within and between generations;
• is affordable, operates efficiently, offers choice of transport mode and supports a vibrant economy;
• limits emissions and waste within the planet’s ability to absorb them, minimizes consumption of
non-renewable resources, reuses and recycles its components and minimizes the use of land and
the production of noise [5].
According to the definition adopted by the European Union Minister’s of Transport (2001) – ECMT,
a sustainable transport system is one that [5–7]:
• allows the basic access and development needs of individuals, companies and societies to be met
safely and in manner consistent with human and ecosystem health and promises equity within and
between successive generations;
• is affordable, operates fairly and efficiently, offers choice of transport mode and supports a competitive
economy as well as balanced regional development.
• limits emissions and waste within the planet’s ability to absorb them, uses renewable resources at or
below their rates of generation and uses non-renewable resources at or below the rates of development
of renewable substitutes while minimizing the impact on land and the generation of noise [5–7].
Despite the differences that are possible based on the above definitions, all of them underline the
need for moving under healthy environmental and economic conditions with safety. This remark sets
the concept of sustainable mobility, which, within the context of the EXTRA project, was defined as
‘A transport system and transport patterns that can provide the means and opportunities to meet
economic, environmental and social needs efficiently and equitably, while minimizing avoidable or
unnecessary adverse impacts and their associated costs, over relevant space and time scales’ [7].
Thus, environmentally sustainable transport is the transport that does not endanger public health
or ecosystems and meets the needs for access consistent with: (a) sustainable use of renewable
resources at below their rates of regeneration and (b) use of non-renewable resources at below the
rates of development of renewable substitutes [2].
The theoretical dimension of sustainable transport and mobility through the various definitions
gives the reason for a practical approach: the expected effects of a sustainable transport system in
economy, ecology and society. Table 1 summarizes these effects.
An important issue towards the effort for a sustainable transport system is to determine and
assess the exact costs imposed by the transport sector. In order to be able to propose concrete strat-
egies, measures and mechanisms for achieving the target, the exact effects of road transport on the
economy, the environment and the society (with special emphasis on human health and the daily
life of the citizens) should be defined. The following paragraphs provide a comprehensive review
in this direction.
3 Transport COSTS
Transport costs are distinguished in two basic categories: internal and external costs. The first category
comes from the provision, i.e. construction and maintenance, and use of transport infrastructure. These
Table 1: The effects of sustainable transport and mobility.

Sub-objective Effect
Economy • Provision of infrastructure for development, expansion of economies and
employment
• Raise revenue for infrastructure and transport facilities setup, operation and
maintenance
• Operation of reliable, cheap, fast and high-volume transport services
• Time savings and reduction of congestion effects
• Creation of sound financial basis for alternative public transport modes, provision
of different transport options
Environment • Reduction of air pollution, contributing to climate stabilization
• Reduction of noise and visual intrusion
• Reduction of health problems associated with transport emissions
• Increase of safety in transport operations
• Efficient land use distribution
• Integration of environmental and economic dimensions in transport and land
use planning and development
• Development of an environmental sensitive strategic framework to support
decision and policy making
Society • Provision of transport services and mobility for all social groups
• Provision of transport services and accessibility for all geographic areas,
withdrawal of regional isolation, opportunities for rationale land use allocation
• Support of development process in territories aiming to provide jobs and welfare
in all social groups
• Provision of reliable public transport services for all and mainly for those
without an alternative
Source: [3].
costs have to be recovered from the users (e.g. tools) or/and from the public (e.g. state investments)
and they determine the economic feasibility of transport projects, considering the demand for indi-
vidual mobility and the effect of the new infrastructure on this demand. Thus, internal costs form an
essential part for demand and supply decision on the transport market [3].
The second category (external costs) refers to the negative side effects of transport systems, such
as congestion, accidents, pollution, noise and aesthetic factors, which affect negatively the present
and/or future generations. External costs – usually called externalities – are difficult to be measured
and thus almost impossible to make road users to pay the exact cost that they cause (internalization
of external costs). Despite the fact that transport and development interacts with target the social
welfare, the increase of road transport patronage has adverse effects on environmental conditions, with
substantial economic impact. Generally, it is possible to distinguish six categories of environmental
and economic impacts [2, 3, 7–12]:
• climate change and air pollution;

• noise;
• congestion;
• accidents;
• fuel consumption, exhaustion of non-renewable resources;

• landscape and land value effects: visual intrusion and aesthetics.
Table 2 describes the main internal and external costs and gives a policy option for ‘making the
users to pay’ for the transport costs.
Most human exposure to air pollution comes from road traffic. Despite the efforts for improvements
in air quality in Europe, about 90% of the urban population is still exposed to excess ambient levels
of several pollutants. Motor vehicles are the main contributors to air pollution in urban areas, with
main pollutants being the carbon monoxide and dioxide (CO, CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur
dioxide (SO2), particulate matter and volatile organic compounds (VOC). In OECD countries, motor
vehicles and road traffic are responsible for 89% of CO, 52% of NOx and 44% of VOC [9].
Table 2: Main internal and external costs: a ‘user pays’ alternative.

Costs ‘User pays’ option
Internal
Infrastructure provision: construction • Use charges
and maintenance • Fixed charges
Equipment provision: construction and • Public procurement
maintenance
External
Congestion • Congestion charging
• Parking fees
• Traffic management
• Fuel taxation
Accidents • Road standards
• Speed limits
• Drivers’ education
• Risk-related insurance premiums
Emissions – pollution • Alternative fuels and modes
• Promotion of public transport
• Urban planning measures (e.g. neotraditional
design, restricted access areas, etc.)
• Use charges
Noise – nuisance • Standards
• Urban planning measures (e.g. neotraditional
design, restricted access areas, etc.)
• Use charges
Fuel consumption, exhaustion of • New generation fuels
non-renewable resources • Promotion of public transport
• Fuel taxation
Landscape and land value effects • Landscape and urban planning measures
Source: [3].
High concentrations of pollutants and, more generally, high levels of air pollution are responsible
for the demission of life quality in cities, the emergence of diseases fluctuating from simple respiratory
problems to cancer, the destruction of tropospheric ozone (VOC and NOx) and the increase of the
global temperature through the increase in CO2 (greenhouse gas) concentration. There exists strong
evidence for a direct link between respiratory problems, especially in children, and residence near
busy roads or roads with increased heavy vehicles traffic. Several studies show a correlation between
transport-related air pollution and non-fatal health problems such as bronchitis, cardiovascular
diseases and asthma. Climate changes will result in more variable and extreme weather conditions,
raised sea levels, immersion of lands, expansion of deserts, destruction of biota species and other
effects that are not possible to determine at the present [2].
The second effect, noise, is the simplest perceived effect of road transport as people feel a more
direct nuisance, and road traffic seems to be the predominant source of human exposure to noise,
except for people living in the vicinity of airports and railway lines. Ambient sound levels have
increased as a result of the growing number of road trips and vehicle-kilometers traveled and the
higher speeds of motor vehicles. It constitutes a serious transport-related problem in terms of being
unpleasant and causing health problems such as stress disturbances, cardiovascular diseases and
hearing loss. The upper noise levels are determined according to the type of land uses in the adjacent
areas, although it is important to mention that levels above 65 dB(A) are unacceptable and incompat-
ible with certain land uses, like immiscibly residential areas, hospitals, schools, etc., in developed
countries [9].
In Europe, about 17% of the citizens are exposed to noise levels above this limit, while the respective
proportion for Japan is 30% and for the United States only 7% [2]. About 65% of the Europeans
(roughly 450 million people) are exposed to noise levels that can cause serious annoyance, speech
interference and sleep disturbance. There is a strong impact of noise on mental activities requiring
attention, memory and the ability to handle complex analytical problems and projects. Nevertheless,
research works about the health impacts of noise show a connection between serious situations like
hypertension and ischemic heart diseases and high noise levels.
The next effect, congested road networks, is the contemporary picture of urban centers. The result
is increased noise and air pollution levels day by day and loss of time. According to an OECD work,
the total cost of traveling is equivalent to almost 7% in conditions under congestion, while in free-
flowing travel it is only 2%. As time loss is the most serious effect of congestion, it is possible to
function as the stick and the carrot for leaving private cars home and shifting to alternative modes for
the daily travel. Something like this of course presupposes the existence of reliable and adequate
public transport services [3].
Concerning road safety, many research works have been undertaken on the valuation of accidents,
which corresponds to valuation of human life, the social cost, the labor cost and the suffering that
causes a life lost, a temporary or a permanent disability. Unfortunately, as the levels of car ownership
and traffic volumes rise, road safety remains in rather low levels and road accidents increase. More
specifically, deaths from road accidents have been gradually decreasing, but mortality and injuries
remain in high levels. The result is approximately 120,000 deaths and 2.5 million injuries from road
accidents per year in Europe. A third of the figures reported for deaths and serious injuries refer to
citizens under the age of 25 years and it is estimated that victims die on average 40 years earlier than
their life expectancy, putting a significant cost to society in terms of lost productivity, health care
costs, pain, suffering and disability. Thus, the external costs of road accidents may amount to as
much as 2.5% of GDP and for this reason governments should implement solid accident prevention
policies. This manifests that we should stop to give a monetary value on each human life and to
approximate in this way the society’s willingness to pay in order to tackle the accidents [3].
Fuel consumption puts a strong pressure on both sustainable development and transport. To date,
oil and its byproducts remain the main energy source for transport. Oil reserves have started depleting
and the renewable substitutes are being developed and brought into use at lower rates, which results
in a contradiction with the concepts of sustainability. In addition, the continuous and increased fuel
consumption, due to the increased road traffic, causes additional air pollution, with CO2 emissions
set to grow by 70% between 1995 and 2020 [2, 8, 9].
Finally, poor urban quality, visual intrusion and aesthetics made people to move out of the city
centers. Compact cities reduced. Suburbanization started to gain the residential preferences; urban
sprawl forms the new reality and a different picture of the contemporary cities dominated. This
resulted in increased and longer motor vehicle trips, as suburban areas are characterized by poor
public transport accessibility, land use segregation and demand for the provision of additional
road supply.
4 Costs and Policy ASSESSMENT

As mentioned earlier, transport operates in a contradictive double way: it is the mean for economic
and social development, but it has serious environmental impacts, resulting in a noble economic cost.
Transport is characterized as a typical example of public good and market failure. It serves human
needs in a unique way, but it is not possible to internalize the environmental and social costs it
causes, i.e. users are not paying (or not paying adequately) for the commodity that they use. Regulation
and taxation policies may achieve only a partial internalization of some environmental, health and
safety effects, but they cannot include the full economic and social cost of noise, air pollution, conges-
tion and accidents. According to ECMT, these costs are equivalent to approximately 5.6% of GDP
for European countries [2, 9–12].
All impacts have a direct or indirect effect on a person’s daily life, and more specifically on the
commonly perceived nuisance, the health problems that may result, the ability to participate in
activities (i.e. to work and produce) and the spatial distribution of these activities (changes in land
uses), as presented in Table 3. Some of these effects can be described in monetary terms, corre-
sponding either to the labor lost and or to the expenses for treatment. Some others, and especially
those referring to the nuisance, are subjective or rather complex, and thus it is difficult to attribute to
them a monetary value [9].
Nevertheless, in order to fight against the adverse side of transport, a comprehensive strategy
based on the available policy options should be formed. At the same time, additional expenses
should be made with the form of investments. These investments involve both infrastructure and
research in the fields of vehicular stock, efficient road and vehicle equipment and alternative
energy resources. Thus, the total costs of transport include a negative portion, referring to the
direct effect of transport externalities and a positive one, referring to improvements in infrastruc-
ture and broadening of the research activities in order to achieve sustainability for the present and
future generations [9].
A comprehensive policy assessment framework have to take into account all the parameters pre-
sented in Table 3 in order to conclude in decisions regarding the feasibility of a project or the
willfulness of implementing a specific policy or regulation, in order to eliminate the environmental
problems and maximize the gains in terms of sustainable development and mobility. Observatories
of transport impacts are able to inform such decisions through a set of indices, which in their typical
form include [4, 11]:
• noise levels and population exposed to these levels in various distances;

• atmospheric concentration of CO, CO2, NOx and SOx;

Table 3: Transport externalities, costs and investments.
Costs Investments
Transport
externalities Nuisance Health Labor Land Infrastructure Research
Climate Perceived through Simple sickness Loss of Effect on land Clean vehicles, Development of
change/ human senses, to chronic productivity values and the alternative new technologies
air pollution extreme weather or/and due to spatial modes for roads and
conditions fatal diseases; sickness, distribution vehicles, alternative
treatment chronic of activities, fuels, hybrid
costs disease wastelands, cars; techniques
or death contamination for promoting
of biota and alternative travel
global climate behavior patterns:
change development of
teleworking,
telecommuting,
promotion of
ecodriving
Noise Perceived Simple sickness Loss of Effect on land New genera Development of
through to serious productivity values and the tion engines noiseless engines,
hearing, chronic due to spatial distribution and pavements, noise barriers with
S. Basbas et al., Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009)
irritation cardiovascular nuisance, of activities noise barriers greater absorbance

problems; sickness, and improved
treatment costs chronic disease aesthetics
or death
Continued
315
Table 3: Continued
316
Costs Investments
Transport
Congestion Irritation Simple sickness Loss of Effect on land Alternative to Methods for
to serious productivity values and the private car efficient traffic
chronic due to spatial distribution modes, traffic management and
neurological irritation of activities management on-road equipment,
and/or and time strategies, alternative modes;
cardiovascular delay efficient techniques for
problems on road promoting alternative
equipment travel behavior
patterns: development
of teleworking,
telecommuting,
promotion of
ecodriving
Accidents Human Injuries, Temporary or Non-identified Highway design Improvements in
suffering paralysis, permanent loss and maintenance, highway design
and grief death; of productivity efficient on-road and maintenance
treatment due to serious equipment techniques,
costs health damages; improvement in
bereavement car safety equipment;
of labor. techniques for
promoting alternative
travel behavior
patterns: development
of teleworking,
telecommuting,
promotion of
ecodriving
Continued

Table 3: Continued
Costs Investments
Transport
Fuel Change in It may have Problems Effect on the Development of Identification of new
consumption habits; adaptation positive or related with spatial distribution subsistence (renewable) energy
of non-private negative the spatial of activities, fuels, search resources
vehicle travel impact distribution wastelands, for unknown
patterns of labor exhaustion of petroleum
non-renewable deposits
resources
and biota
Visual intrusion Irritation – – Effect on the Integrated Development of tools
and aesthetics spatial transport, for the integration of
distribution environmental transport, land use
of activities and land use and environmental
strategies planning
Source: [2–4, 9].

317
• land use alterations;

• land use values;
• road accidents, traffic volumes, composition and level of service.
The policy and regulatory regimes that are available in order to build sustainable transport strategies,
gain revenue, partly internalize the direct and negative costs, gain resources for investments (positive
costs) and implement the results of the policy assessment process are synopsized to the following
points [3, 10, 11, 13]:
• Regulatory and planning instruments aiming to set standards, restrictions, administrative

procedures, etc.
Table 4: Examples of strategic instruments and measures for sustainable transport and mobility.
Target Instrument Measure
Discourage motorized Tax/charge on vehicle • Annual vehicle tax
vehicle ownership purchase/ownership • Registration tax
• Resale tax
Restricting the number of • Auction schemes/competitive bidding
vehicles and/or new for new licenses
registrations • Licensing car ownership
Discourage motorized Tax charge on vehicle use • Fuel tax
vehicle use/encourage • Tax on vehicle miles traveled
public transport use Tax/charge on infrastructure use • Parking fees
Restricting access to urban • City tools
centers or special areas • Road pricing
• Bridge tools
• Cordon pricing
• Congestion pricing
Subsidies for public transport • Subsidized public transport fees
and multimodal transport • Subsidies for public transport networks
and operation
• Tax-deductible public transport
expenses
• Park & Ride schemes
• Investments on alternative and
innovative means of public transport
Encourage clean Tax/charge on vehicle • Tax differentiations based on
vehicle technology purchase/ownership emissions
use and innovation Taxes/charges on vehicle use • Carbon/energy taxes
Taxes/charges on infrastructure • Emission fees
use • Emission based surcharges
• Subsidies, tax rebates for low-emission
vehicles and technologies.
Source: [3, 9].
• Cooperation agreements aiming to get all people engaged in a specific issue, to reach a consensus
to policy goals and to design voluntary measures to reach these goals.
• Economic instruments aiming to use economic incentives and/or disincentives to pursue a policy
goal. It is based on the price mechanism: changing the price or private transport supply and demand,
the decisions of the users and providers can be guided in the favorable direction.
• Information instruments aiming to guide in more rational decisions of transport users and suppliers.
Thus, common measures arising from the strategy instruments and the needs of policy assessment
are [3]:
• systematic controls of emissions and noise levels; penalties in case of transgressions;

• subsidize the replacement of previous generation (non-environmental friendly) vehicles;
• increase of fuel taxation;
• increase of parking fees;
• stabilization of public transport tickets (in order to increase patronage);
• congestion charging.
Table 4 presents some examples of the strategic instruments and measures that can be applied
in order to achieve a specific target. The core targets are: discourage motorized vehicle owner-
ship, discourage motorized vehicle use, encourage public transport use, encourage clean vehicle
technology use and innovation. The set of measures proposed in each case is indicative and
not exhaustive.
5 Conclusions
Road transport shoulders a great portion of passenger and freight mobility, giving economic devel-
opment and causing serious environmental problems and noble expenditures. A balance can and
should be achieved through the formation of a comprehensive strategy for sustainability, which
involves regulatory and planning instruments, cooperation agreements and economic instruments.
The gains for sustainable road transport are multifold and involve economic, environmental and
social capital. It is obvious that transport planning and the associated decision making needs a
shift: people and decision makers should change the way they think and behave. This means that
they have to consider a greater variety of impacts in their analysis (direct, indirect and cumula-
tive), considering a broader and innovative range of solutions and using policy will to achieve the
targets [14–16].
In this direction, it is crucial to consider such a strategy and invoke the cooperation and
complementarity of:
• research activities for the development of new technologies for vehicle engines and equipment,
fuels, on-road equipments and pavements;
• investments in new technologies and alternative modes;
• comprehensive assessment of costs and benefits;
• establishment of the necessary structures for the monitoring process of road operation.
It is important to mention once again that investments in research activities are real investments for
a sustainable future and a ‘positive cost’ aiming to realize transport and environmental sustainability
for the present and future generations.
References
[1] European Commission, European Transport Policy for 2010: Time to Decide. COM (2001) 370,
White Paper of the Commission of the European Communities, Brussels, 2001.
[2] OECD, Synthesis of OECD work on environment and transport and survey of related OECD,
IEA and ECMT activities. Working party on National Environmental Policy. Working Group on
Transport, Transport and Environment, Paris, 2002.
[3] UNESCAP, The Challenge: Sustainable Road Transport, United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and Pacific, 2004.
[4] Pitsiava-Latinopoulou, M., Basbas, S. & Zacharaki, E., An index for impact assessment
of a motorway – case study of Egnatia Motorway. Conference Proceedings of ‘URBAN
TRANSPORT 2002’, Seville, Spain, pp. 814–832, 2002.
[5] Centre for Sustainable Transportation (CST), Sustainable Transportation Performance Indicators
(STPI) Project, Report on phase 3, 2002.
[6] SUMMA Consortium, Operationalising Sustainable Transport and Mobility: The System Diagram
and Indicators, Deliverable 3, Workpackage 2, RAND Europe, Leiden, 2004.
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Deliverable 2, Workpackage 1, RAND Europe, Leiden, 2003.
[8] EXTRA Consortium. Sustainable Mobility – Integrated Policy. EXTRA: Thematic Paper. EXTRA
Project was funded by the EC under the Transport RTD Programme of the FP4, 2001.
[9] Maddison, D., Pearce, D., Johansen, O., Calthrop, E., Litman, T. & Verhoef, E. The True Costs
of Road Transport, Blueprint, Earthscan Publications Limited: London, 1996.
[10] UNESC, Overview of Instruments Relevant to Transport, Environment and Health and
Recommendations for Further Steps. Synthesis Report, United Nations Economic and Social
Council, Economic Commission for Europe, World Health Organization, Regional Office for
Europe, 2001.
[11] Delucchi, M.A., The Annualized Social Cost of Motor-Vehicle Use in the U.S., 1990–1991:
Summary of Theory, Data, Methods, and Results, UCD-ITS-RR-96-3(1), Institute of Transportation
Studies, University of California, Davis, California, 1998.
[12] Poole, F., The transport bill: Part III road charging and workplace parking. Bill 8 of 1999-2000.
Research Paper 99/104, Business & Transport Section, House of Commons Library,
London, 1999.
[13] Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – Hellinic Institute of Transport, Observatory for the Spatial
Impacts of Egnatia Motorway: A Pilot Application of a System of Indices, Final Deliverable,
Egnatia Odos S.A., Thessaloniki, 2001.
[14] Berger, L. et al., Guidance for Estimating the Indirect Effects of Proposed Transportation Projects,
Report 403, Transportation Research Board, www.nas.edu/trb, 1998.
[15] Litman, T., Sustainable transportation indicators, VTPI, www.vtpi.org, 2003.
[16] Litman, T. & Burwell, D., Issues in sustainable transportation. Int. J. Global Environmental
Issues, 6(4), pp. 331–347, 2006.
D. Vagiona & N. Mylopoulos, Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009) 321–331
WATER PRICE ELASTICITY AND PUBLIC ACCEPTABILITY ON

CONSERVATION OPTIONS IN THE CITY OF VOLOS, GREECE
D. VAGIONA & N. MYLOPOULOS
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Thessaly, Greece.
ABSTRACT
Efforts to satisfy increasing demand have often been concentrated principally on constructing new water systems,
thus increasing the supply of water. The relationship between water abstraction and water availability has turned
into a major stress factor in the exploitation of water resources. There is a wide recognition nowadays that there
is a need for strategies for the sustainable use of water resources and water demand management. In the city of
Volos, Greece, the number of water meters has been tripled from 1979 to 2006 while yearly water production
has increased 2.62 times these 27 years. The fact that water sources have remained stable has created a disruption
of water balance. In order to explore new approaches toward sustainable water management in the water supply
sector, evaluate various aspects of current water policy, investigate the perspectives of water saving and evaluate
water price elasticity in the city of Volos, Greece, a survey concerning the residential sector has been performed
recently. All qualitative data were gathered through questionnaire with the method of personal interview. The
questionnaire examines social features of consumers, water use patterns, water conservation methods, water
pricing issues and the level of water services. Water quality, water demand and water availability issues, water-
related problems, as well as public information concerning water and environmental issues, public reactions to price
changes and public willingness to pay in the residential sector are the main aspects examined and analyzed. The
influence of some selected variables in water conservation, such as the price of water, the size of the dwelling,
the indoor and outdoor uses, the educational level, the income of consumers as well as rainfall and temperature
levels, is examined, hierarchically set and residential water demand curve is calculated using the fixed effects
and random effects model.
Keywords: analytical hierarchy process, public participation, residential water price elasticity, water conservation,
water demand management.
1 INTRODUCTION
Residential water use refers to water for household needs such as drinking, food preparation, sanitary
reasons, cleaning and washing in the house, cleaning and washing of a car, filling of a swimming
pool and watering lawns and gardens. Residential water consumption is usually the most important
use in an urban context [1], and its management results in the most controversial decision from a
socioeconomic point of view [2].
In the past, most of the attempts to satisfy the increased water demand led to a more intensive
exploitation of water resources. This one-sided management of water has caused not only the gradual
depletion of water resources but also their qualitative degradation. During the last years, all efforts
to conserve water balance for demand and supply have focused on managing water demand. Water
demand can be defined as the adaptation and implementation of effective policies and initiatives by
a Water Utility to influence the water demand and usage of water in order to meet any or even all of the
following objectives: economic efficiency, social development, social equity, environmental protection,
sustainability of water supply and services and political acceptability.
To achieve the above objectives, a number of instruments, which are interdependent, have been
developed and the most effective way for their application depends on the prevailing local conditions.
Within this framework lie the study and evaluation of suitable social interventions as well as the
application of financial methods and measures that could contribute significantly to saving water,
which are nowadays the top choices of a sustainable water policy [3, 4].

DOI: 10.2495/SDP-V4-N4-321-331
322 D. Vagiona & N. Mylopoulos, Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009)
A successful way to manage water demand is to define the variables that affect it in every sector
of water use (agricultural, residential, industrial, commercial, etc.). Water use relationships are in the
form of mathematical equations that express water use as a mathematical function of one or more
independent variables. The mathematical form and the selection of the independent variables depend
on the type and aggregation of water demand.
According to the availability and the type of data, many applications and statistical models are
found in the international bibliography, which evaluate the water demand curve in the residential
sector and define the factors that affect water demand as well as the way they affect each other.
Studies have performed a variety of methods and econometric models depending upon the nature
and availability of data in order to estimate water demand [5–7].
The level of residential demand varies considerably from household to household depending on the
socioeconomic factors and household characteristics. The potential key factors affecting residential
water consumption and that have been used in studies of residential water demand mostly refer to
water price, population, income, household size, weather, family composition, number of taps in the
housing unit, educational status of the head of the household, number of water using habits, time of
the year and others, which are represented by various and different expressions.
2 DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA

The research took place in the wider region of the city of Volos. The Municipal Water Utility of the
city of Volos, which is responsible for the municipalities of Volos, Nea Ionia and Esonia, supplies the
urban complex of Volos (120,000 residents) with an estimated average water consumption of about
350 liters per counter per day.
The broader study area has been divided into four main sectors, according to the segregation of
the Municipal Water Utility of the city of Volos (Fig. 1). Sectors 1, 2 and 3 cover the municipality of
Volos, whereas sector 4 the municipalities of Nea Ionia and Esonia.
A total of 112 questionnaires were collected. From these, 100 were considered to be completely
filled in and suitable for further use. Information concerning the number of residents of each sector
Figure 1: The four main sectors in the city of Volos.

D. Vagiona & N. Mylopoulos, Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009) 323
was retrieved from the National Statistical Service and the percentage of each sector’s participation
in the sample was calculated. Thus, 33 water consumers from the first sector, 19 from the second and
third sector and 29 from the fourth sector were examined. Probability sampling was the method
applied, and personal interviews of the respondents were taken.
The questionnaire used in the interview consists of three parts. In the first part, the social
characteristics of the sample are being inquired (sex, age, education, etc.), defining the sample’s
identity. The second part contains questions regarding water consumption and uses in the urban area of
Volos (outdoor water use, leakages, use of water conserving devices, etc.). Furthermore, it contains
questions where factors which eventually affect water consumption as well as parameters which
contribute to water saving are being evaluated and graded. Finally, in the third part, consumers’
willingness to be informed and take part in water conservation programs and their willingness to pay in
order to improve the services provided by the Municipal Water Utility are being inquired.
3 INITIAL SURVEY RESULTS CONCERNING WATER ISSUES
3.1 Water pricing policy
The pricing policy for the residential sector that was applied in the city of Volos till 1985 was a uniform
rate with a fixed monthly service charge corresponding to a minimum water consumption of 5 m3/month.
The increasing block tariff has been adopted since then. In this pricing scheme, the first block is
charged at a low rate, while the consecutive blocks can be charged at prices that will discourage the
consumers from indulging in unnecessary use. In this study area, the residential customers were
being charged based on a three-block increasing rate structure from 1985 to 1991 and according to
a four-block increasing pricing scheme from 1991 to 1997. Since then, five water blocks have
prevailed combined with a fixed service charge of 15 m3/trimester. Table 1 shows the price for each
block for the residential sector.
Despite the increase of the water price, especially for high consumers, 57% declare that the
contribution of water bill to their family income is less than 1%.
Furthermore, 51% of the sample is willing to contribute financially in order to improve the
services provided by the Municipal Water Utility. The 49% of the respondents who are not willing
to pay extra for service improvements indicates the low reliability of the utility’s infrastructure
and services and the prevailing opinion of many consumers that water is a social good. The
majority of those who are willing to pay for the amelioration of water services (42%) would
accept an amount up to 30€ annually, whereas only very few would consent to a higher amount
(from 45€ to 300€ annually).
Table 1: Water price structure in the city of Volos from 1997 to 2005.
Price structure (€/m3)
m3/3 months 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
0–15 0.32 0.34 0.35 0.36 0.36 0.37 0.38 0.39 0.4
16–38 0.38 0.4 0.42 0.43 0.44 0.45 0.46 0.48 0.5
39–60 0.5 0.53 0.54 0.56 0.57 0.59 0.61 0.64 0.67
61–80 0.5 0.53 0.54 0.56 0.59 0.62 0.65 0.69 0.73
>81 0.56 0.59 0.61 0.63 0.68 0.73 0.79 0.86 0.93
3.2 Water conservation devices
The use of water saving devices indicates how sensitive consumers are in water issues. Retrofitting
also provides one of the most effective short-term options for reducing water demand. The most
frequently used include low-flush toilets, low flow faucets and showerheads. Only a very small
percent (5%) owns water-conserving devices. Yet, it is important that a vast number of those who do
not use water-conserving devices would be interested in being informed as well as in participating
in water-conservation programs. Various channels of communication can be used for program
publicity. For a particular program to be effective, the channel of communication should be chosen
with regard to the target population.
3.3 Outdoor water use – construction of a dual water supply network
The construction of a dual water supply network refers to the wastewater reuse. Wastewater reuse
contributes to demand management in that it enhances the efficiency of a water supply system by
supplying reused water to activities which otherwise would have utilized potable water from the
distribution system. The most common form of wastewater reuse is the use of effluent coming from
wastewater treatment works for agriculture and industrial procedures. Wastewater reuse is also practiced
to a lesser extent in large households and detached houses.
In the case of the urban complex of Volos, the gray water reuse concerns the washing of balconies
and the watering of plants.
It has been proven in California that the prohibition of certain outdoor uses, such as washing of
sidewalks and outdoor areas, can lead to a 29% decrease in water consumption [8]. Water consumed
for outdoor uses need not be of high quality (drinking water).
Therefore, the construction of a dual water supply network seems to be a very important parameter.
In this study, 79% of the sample consumes water for outdoor uses.
3.4 Control of leakages
Water leakages are usually due to lack of maintenance or failure to renew and replace aging systems
and form real losses of water losses. Water losses are inevitable in distribution systems and real
losses cover mainly leakage from pipes, reservoirs, etc. Control of leakages minimizes the difference
between the available supply and projected demand and also the vulnerability of the system to supply
shortages. Furthermore, water metering on demand has attracted a lot of attention in the past. There
are documented case studies that suggest that meter adoption motivates water savings (at least in the
short term) in terms of total volume [9] and can help reduce peak demands [10].
In all, 61% of the sample checks for network leakages. This means that a significant part of the
consumers deals with possible network damages and the consequent water leakages. The leakage
control entails significant benefit since water is being conserved. The majority of those controlling
water leakages (27%) checks for damages once per year, whereas another 15% checks once per month
and 13% checks once every 2 months.
3.5 Awareness and participation in water conservation programs
It is evident that all the above components, which contribute to water conservation, directly or
indirectly, affect consumers and hence a public awareness campaign will also contribute to this
direction. The main goal of the campaign should be to raise the consumers’ awareness of the
urgency to conserve water in order to avert a crisis situation in the future. Unfortunately, past
implementation of any demand management program was based solely on the decisions of water
planners without consultation of the public and this top–down approach has led to the failure of
many initiatives.
In this study, the overwhelming majority of consumers (90%) wish to be informed by the
Municipal Water Utility of the city of Volos on the water supply problems of the city as well as on
water-related issues.
Therefore, the Water Utility should take advantage of their willingness in order to communicate
with the consumers and promote its future plans. As far as the way of information is concerned,
most of them wish to be informed directly by the Water Utility through a special edition dispatched
together with the water bill. Local media (radio, TV and newspapers) seems to play a very important
role in informing the public, whereas magazines and other means (i.e. internet) are considered
less important.
Moreover, 87% of the sample would be willing to take part in water conservation programs.
This conclusion is of tremendous importance because before applying any water conservation
program, one should check the possibility of failing to achieve the goal, which is the decrease in
water demand.
4 SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS IN WATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT INSTRUMENTS

The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) structures an objective hierarchically and guides the analyst
through a sequence of pairwise comparison judgments. AHP is an approach of decision making that
involves structuring multiple-choice criteria into a hierarchy, assessing the relative importance of
these criteria, comparing alternatives for each criterion and determining an overall ranking of the
alternatives. It is one of the well-known methods of multicriteria analysis and has been performed in
many different cases.
The AHP is performed in order to assess the involvement of the five conservation measures (CMs)
analyzed above in water demand management according to consumers’ perception. A linear additive
model is developed; it uses procedures for deriving the weights and the scores achieved by alternatives,
which are based, respectively, on pairwise comparisons between water CMs and between groups
according to their educational level (G).
Consumers are divided according to their educational level into primary (P), secondary (S) and
tertiary (T). Water CMs include the following: implementation of effective water pricing policy
(CM1), use of water conservation devices (CM2), construction of a dual water supply network
(CM3), control of leakages (CM4) and public awareness and participation in water conservation
programs (CM5).
4.1 Steps of the AHP
The AHP performed consists of three levels. The first level denotes the overall goal, which is the
evaluation of water conservation options. The second level includes the ordering of consumers
according to their educational level. The last level of the hierarchy describes the proposed water
CMs, which are to be evaluated.
In the next step of the AHP, the groups of consumers in the second level of the hierarchy are compared
with each other to determine the relative importance of each group in accomplishing the overall goal.
The easiest and visually most structured way of doing this is to prepare a matrix with the groups listed
at the top and on the left. In this study, each possible combination of different groups is examined
and six matrices evokes.
In the second level of AHP, water CMs are evaluated in relation to different ordering of consumers.
Values from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) are set. Taking into account the weights of the five CMs, the
final weight for each measure is given by eqn (1):
N
w2, j = ∑ w1,i wij , with i = 1, 2, 3,…, N and j = 1, 2, 3,…, M. (1)
i =1
where w2,j is the weight of conservation measure CMj in the second level, w1,i is the weight of
group Gi in the first level, wij is the weight of conservation measure CMj for the group Gi and
∑ i =1 w1,i = 1 , ∑ j =1 w2, j = 1.
N M
4.2 Total weights of water CMs
In Table 2 the final weights of water CMs for the six different cases are presented.
Irrespective of the educational level of consumers in the first level of AHP, the control of leakages
constitutes the most effective measure leading to water conservation. Water leakages in the level of
final use represent the loss of important quantities of water via the escapes from taps that run also
from the pipes of internal installation.
The second most important factor in water conservation constitutes, for the majority of groups,
public awareness and participation in water conservation programs. The high eagerness of consumers
(90%) towards environmental education and information proves that their involvement in water
conservation programs is essential to decrease water consumption levels. Moreover, it has been
proved that in periods of drought or problems in the abstraction of water, the application of such
programs decreased water consumption levels.
The use of water saving devices strongly contributes to water conservation. Only 5% of con-
sumers use such appliances, while 87% have declared their willingness to participate in water
conservation programs. The installation of water saving appliances (dual flush interactive toilet,
flow control valves, etc.) is an effective measure of water conservation and should be included in
any administrative plan.
The application of appropriate water pricing policy receives the last place of hierarchy almost in
all cases, meaning that an increase in water price will not lead to water conservation. The price of
water is very low in relation to the income of consumers. In all, 57% declares that it contributes less
than 1% to consumer’s income, while for 37% it fluctuates from 1% to 5%. Even if the change in
water price constitutes an important factor of determination of water demand, this result is expected
as the AHP describes the consumers’ opinions, who certainly disagree with any increase in the price
of any resource.
Table 2: Final weights of water CMs.

TSP TPS STP SPT PTS PST
CM4 0.33 CM4 0.33 CM4 0.33 CM4 0.33 CM4 0.33 CM4 0.33
CM5 0.24 CM5 0.26 CM2 0.23 CM2 0.23 CM5 0.26 CM5 0.24
CM2 0.22 CM2 0.21 CM5 0.23 CM5 0.23 CM2 0.21 CM2 0.22
CM3 0.11 CM3 0.12 CM1 0.10 CM1 0.10 CM3 0.12 CM3 0.11
CM1 0.09 CM1 0.08 CM3 0.10 CM3 0.10 CM1 0.08 CM1 0.09
However, actually the increase in the price of water can even result in short-term changes in the
consumers’ behavior, contributing in this way to water conservation. The fact that water consump-
tion is reduced in such cases depends on the value of elasticity of water demand, which is calculated
in the next section.
5 ELASTICITY OF WATER DEMAND

A matter of great interest in analyzing the economic demand for water is consumers’ responsiveness
to price differences. One measure of this concept of responsiveness is called the price elasticity of
demand and is equal to the proportionate difference in the quantity purchased divided by the
proportionate difference in price paid [11].
Equation (2) is a basic and simple equation that can describe some observations (y), which depend
on a set of variables (x) and can take the following form [12]:
K
i = 1,  , N ,
yit = a + ∑ bk xkit + n t + uit , (2)
k =1 t = 1,  , T .
where, y is the dependent variable in observation i at time t, xkit is the vector of specific selected
variables, a, bk are the coefficients to be estimated, ni is the unexpected regime of the dependent
variable and uit is the error term.
There are three types of data: time series, cross-sectional and panel data. Time series data include
observations that are taken at regular time intervals. In cross-sectional data, observations are taken
at one time but for different entities. Panel data combine both the time series and the cross-sectional
observations to form a single data matrix.
There are three kinds of explanatory variables (x). There are variables that differ between different
consumers but remain constant with time, variables whose values change with time but remain constant
for all consumers and variables that change between consumers and with time.
In order to solve eqn (2), all the appropriate variables (x) that explain the dependent variable (y)
should be found. Of course, this is impossible. The variables that are missing from the matrix of
variable (x) (mainly because there are no data for them), but influence the dependent variable y, are
considered to take part in the equation via the residuals ni and uit. The degree that the missing variables
influence the dependent variable is expressed by these residuals (ni and uit). The residuals ni differ
between the consumers, but remain constant for each consumer throughout the time. The residuals
uit are the ‘common’ residuals of equations of this kind. That is to say, they have zero mean value,
they are not connected with (x), with the residuals ni, with themselves and have constant fluctuation.
The solution of the above equation should be derived in many ways and researchers use the most
appropriate method according to the type of the available data.
In this case, there are residential consumers (multiple cases) who are observed at many time periods.
Consequently, panel data (cross-sectional time series data) exist. There are two kinds of information
in cross-sectional time series data: the cross-sectional information reflected in the differences
between subjects (consumers) and the time series or within-subject information reflected in the changes
within subjects over time.
The sample consists of the 100 residential consumers, who were interviewed through the question-
naires mentioned in the survey performed. Water consumption levels are inserted in the model as time
series data and were provided by Municipal Water Utility of the city of Volos in the form of 3-month
period water consumption records from years 1997 to 2005 (36 time series observations in total).
Price structure and changes in pricing policy were also collected by Municipal Water Utility of the
city of Volos. There are different expressions of water price (average, marginal and difference) that
have been used in various studies of water demand and the adequate specification of the price in
water demand models is an econometric issue of great importance.
The average price is defined as the water bill paid by the consumer divided by the amount of water
consumed. The marginal price (MP) is the price that a consumer should pay, according to the water
price structure, for the next cubic meter of water. This principal is based on consumers’ attempt to
optimize their utility function. The difference variable depicts the difference between the real water
bill and the bill that should be paid if all the bulk of water was valued according to MP. In this study,
MP and the difference variable have been calculated for each residential consumer participated in
the survey and used. Both of them are adjusted by the consumer price index.
Three variables that are selected from the initial survey are cross-section data and are inserted
in the model as dummy variables (variables with only two values, zero and one). The first one
is used in order to quantify the consumers who use water for outdoor purposes (doutd), the
second defines the educational level of consumers (dedu1, dedu2) while the third their financial
situation (dinc). If a consumer uses water for outdoor purposes, the dummy variable ‘doutd’
equals 1, otherwise it equals 0. In order to insert the nominal variable that declares the edu-
cational level of consumers (nominal variable with two levels – primary educational level and
secondary educational level), a set of two dummy variables (edu1 and edu2) is created. If a
consumer possesses first-degree education, then ‘edu1’ equals 1 and ‘edu2’ equals 0. If the
consumer’s income does not exceed the amount of 12,000€ per year, the dummy variable ‘dinc’
equals 0, otherwise it equals 1. The size of the dwelling in square meters (continuous variable)
is also stated in the model.
Monthly climatic data (T: temperature in °C and R: precipitation in mm) were collected from the
records of the meteorological station of the city of Volos and both these continuous variables are
inserted in the model.
In order to derive direct price elasticity estimates of demand for water, a log transformation of eqn
(2) was used and by replacing all the explanatory variables, eqn (3) results.
ln(C) = a1(ln MP)2 + a2(ln MP) + a3(ln D)2 + a4(ln D) + a5m2 + a6doutd
+ a7dedu1+ a8dedu2 + a9ln(R) + a10ln(T) + a11dinc + c. (3)
where, C is the water consumption, MP is the marginal price, D is the difference price, m2 is the size
of the residence, doutd is the dummy variable for outdoor uses, dedu1 and dedu2 are the dummy
variables for educational level, R is the precipitation, T is the temperature, dinc is the dummy variable
for income, a1–11 are the coefficients of the explanatory variables and c is the standard term.
5.1 Water demand curve
In order to analyze the panel data, eqn (3) is solved twice using the fixed effects and the random
effects Generalised least squares (GLS) model with the statistical package STATA [13]. Fixed effects
regression is the main technique used for analysis of panel data and is used when omitted variables
that differ between cases but are constant over time have to be controlled. The changes in the varia-
bles over time are used to estimate the effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable.
In order to control both the omitted variables that differ between cases but are constant over time and
the omitted variables that change over time but are constant between cases, the random effects
regression model is also used.
For a single change in water tariff (change both in the prices and in the lower and upper limits of
the consumption scales), reaction of consumers can be described from the sum of the MP and the
difference variable (D). The second-degree equation that results after the addition of coefficients of
MP and D and keeping all the other variables constant (setting their mean values as coefficient) is
described in eqns (4) and (5) for the fixed effects and random effects model, respectively:
ln(C) = −3.632(ln P)2 − 0.953(ln P) + 3.288. (4)
ln(C) = −3.700(ln P)2 − 0.995(ln P) + 3.271. (5)

Water demand curves that were estimated using the equations above are presented in Fig. 2 and
differ slightly. They are both asymptotic for null price of consumption. The highest value of water
consumption Q reaches 28.5 and 28.1 m3/quarter, respectively, for the fixed effects and random
effects model. These consumption values correspond to the mean of the second scale of consumption
(down limit 16 m3 and upper limit 38 m3). This result means that only the first two of the six scales
of the increasing block tariff of Municipal Water Utility of the city of Volos are actually used by the
majority of consumers.
Although random effects model gives better P values as they are a more efficient estimator, fixed
effects model works best when fewer cases and more time periods exist. Moreover, in order to check
the most efficient model and to choose between the fixed effects and the random effects model, the
Hausman test was performed. This tests the null hypothesis that the coefficients estimated by the
efficient random effects estimator are the same as the ones estimated by the consistent fixed effects
estimator. The insignificant P value (prob > chi-square smaller than 0.05) indicated that fixed effects
model should be used.
The own price elasticity is negative and less than unity in absolute value, so the water demand in
the city of Volos is relatively inelastic and water consumption changes less than proportionately with
price. A 10% increase in price can lead to the reduction of water consumption to 9.53%. The high
2.90 fe
re
2.70
2.50
2.30
2.10
P 1.90
(� /m3)
1.70
1.50
1.30
1.10
0.90
0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00
Q (m3)
Figure 2: Residential water demand curve. fe, fixed effects model; re, random effects model.
value means that the current water policy can act as an incentive to water conservation. It is evident
that the increasing block rate structure (higher increases in prices for high water consumptions) helps
water conservation. In this rate structure, residential water users have the incentive to remain in lower
levels of consumption (first and second) where the price is significantly lower. Moreover, in 2006,
the Water Utility of the city of Volos added two more scales in the water rate structure, implementing
small scaling in the upper scales. This practice will also strongly contribute to water saving.
The model’s coefficient for temperature (T) is 0.02, meaning positive in sign and statistically
significant (P value < 0.05). It has the expected sign as a 10% increase in temperature values leads
to a small increase of 0.2% in water consumption. However, the coefficient of precipitation (R) is
0.19 and is estimated with the opposite sign than expected.
6 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

It is evident that Water Utilities face the challenge of developing new water policies by adopting
advanced technologies for demand management through a series of incentives, reuse of treated
wastewater, installation of water saving and conservation equipments, consumer’s awareness and
education while simultaneously should introduce changes in pricing procedures and cost recovery in
order to comply with the principle of full cost pricing, referred to the Water Framework Directive.
The high water price elasticity indicates that water pricing strongly contributes to water conser-
vation. Water demand curve presents that only the first two blocks are actually used by the
majority of consumers, as the maximum consumption level belongs to the mean level of the
second block of the existing pricing scheme in the city of Volos (low margin: 16 m3 and high
margin: 38 m3). Thus, a further division of this block is recommended, including simultaneously
higher prices in each block, which will provide consumers a pure financial incentive to conserve
water. Of course, any increase in water prices should be based on a sound and broadly accepted
planning and Water Utility should assure consumers that they are not being used to take advantage
of the situation to increase profits.
More billing periods are also suggested as users who are more frequently billed might be expected
to understand better the tariff structure and the relation between water consumption and the size
of the bill.
Moreover, as retrofit programs are widely accepted by the public as effective tool for water
conservation, efforts of implementation of such programs should be launched. The efficacy of
them is expected to be positive if the equipment is offered free to the consumers and if they are
high-profile and aggressively managed.
Public’s contribution as well as the general environmental education of consumers is considered
of great importance for the successful implementation of demand management programs. Campaigns
should be worked out in order to actuate consumers toward low water consumption technologies
and generally a demand-oriented water use policy. Social marketing campaigns such as public
broadcasting announcements, brochures, bill inserts, advertising, special public events, internet
sites, door-to-door campaigns, newspaper articles and radio–television programs as well as special
seminars and workshops with specific water users are examples of effective dialogue-based water
conservation instruments, which not only encourage behavioral change but also enhance the concept
of public participation.
Finally, the construction of a dual water supply network contributes to demand management as it
supports the efficiency of the water supply system by supplying reused water to activities which
otherwise would have utilized potable water from the distribution system. If this option is decided,
protection of water users (health implications), protection of the environment (groundwater pollution)
and social acceptability should also be considered.
References
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a state-of-the-art review. Journal of Socio-Economics, 32(1), pp. 81–102, 2003.
[3] Baumann, D.D., Boland, J.J. & Hanemann, W.M., Urban Water Demand Management and
Planning, McGraw Hill: USA, 1997.
[4] Wang, H. & Lall, S., Valuing water for Chinese industries: a marginal productivity assessment.
Sinosphere, 2(3), pp. 27–50, 1999.
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[6] Billings, R.B. & Agthe, D.E., Price elasticities for water: a case of increasing block rates. Land
Economics, 56(1), pp. 73–84, 1980.
[7] Weber, J.A., Forecasting demand and measuring elasticity. Journal of American Water and
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[8] Renwick, M.A. & Green, R.D., Do residential water demand side management policies measure
up? An analysis of eight California water agencies. Journal of Environmental Economics and
Management, 40(1), pp. 37–55, 2000.
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[10] EA, On the Right Track: A Summary of Current Water Conservation Initiatives in the UK,
Environment Agency, 2000.
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Publishing: London, 2007.
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Station: USA, 2003.
I. Frangopoulos et al., Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009) 332–343
Urban structure and mobility in the context of

sustainable development: CITIZENS’ OPINION about
the Thessaloniki submerged tunnel
I. FRANGOPOULOS1, N. DALAKIS2 & D. KOURKOURIDIS2
1Department of Planning and Development, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
2Department of Rural and Surveying Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, on the occasion of the decision to construct the Thessaloniki submerged tunnel (TST), we set the
problem of the urban evolution of the city in correlation with mobility, through empirical investigation of the
citizens’ views. As theoretical tools we use strategic planning and urban governance in order to achieve
modern planning proposals that presuppose processes of social transaction between social actors and other
social partners (active social groups, agents, etc.) for the sustainable development of the city. Methodologi-
cally, we worked with 621 questionnaires, within the urban agglomeration of Thessaloniki, which were given
out and collected between 7 and 9 March 2007. The statistical analysis of the sample was carried out using the
SPSS software. Primarily, we examine the development of the city during the 19th and 20th century in relation
to the Thessaloniki linear sprawl problem as well as the communication between the two city poles, the west
and the east. We continue with the presentation of the social and spatial features of the sample as well as the
major issue of the assessment of the traffic, environmental and urban impacts of the TST. Then, we examine
the structure of the urban mobility. This is followed by an analysis of the issues with regard to the housing
areas and the intention to use the TST, the reasons for commuting from the west to the east and vice versa, and
the evaluation of the impacts according to the housing areas. We also verify the correlation of demographic
variables such as sex and age with the use of routes such as the TST, central streets and ring road. Finally, we
evaluate the impacts of the TST in terms of the association between the intention to use it and variables such
as sex and age.
Keywords: participatory planning, questionnaire survey, strategic planning, sustainable development, Thessaloniki
submerged tunnel, urban mobility, urban structure.
1 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this research is to investigate and record the opinions of a representative sample of
the citizens of Thessaloniki on the controversial project of the Thessaloniki submerged tunnel (TST)
and its impact on the city. The project received both public and private funding and has raised a serious
debate regarding its usefulness, its funding and its urban and environmental impact, especially on the
new quay. Primarily, the project of the submerged tunnel is set in a theoretical background of strategic
planning, participatory practice and evolution of modern metropolises, through theory and interna-
tional actuality. Effective urban governance through the investigation of the citizens’ opinion in
relation to the sustainability of urban intervention of such a scale is important for us, as it can ‘transform’
the users into active participants of the sustainable development of the city. We believe that citizens’
opinion constitutes a substantive part of urban planning and should be regarded as such during the
decision-making process. We continue with the presentation of some historical facts on the evolution
of Thessaloniki’s urban fabric, combined with its linear, bipolar urban development and the traffic and
communication problems of these two poles. The third part of our research refers to the identity of
our sample, its social and spatial features, the facts about urban mobility and social representations
for the city areas that emerge from the participants’ answers, the assessments of the submerged
tunnel’s impact and the variations of attitudes and opinions based on the area of residence. Finally,
by correlations of factors such as sex, age and intent of TST use, we make assumptions concerning

DOI: 10.2495/SDP-V4-N4-332-343
333 I. Frangopoulos et al., Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009)
the modern cultural patterns the residents adopt and the awareness of the transportation problems,
through the search for alternative ways of city transportation.
2 THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

In the current international, economical, social and cultural environment, the cities are not closed
and self-sufficient survival systems. The cities compete for the recruitment of capital and business
by carrying out either economic or urban space improvement strategies. Urban policies transform
into new models of urban governance that focus their efforts on the development of the cities through
the quality of urban space [1]. Strategic planning, as a process, defining the long-term targets and
strategies for their realization, includes the combination of public and private initiatives with the
active participation of the involved population who will use the project and experience its impact. On a
planning level, urban governance combines complex participatory processes with extensive, multiple
intermediations between both private and public basic institutions [2]. Social transaction is a prerequisite
for the effective management of social actors and other social partners (socially active agents, groups
and individuals) [3]. The cities, as ventures of urban policy and governance, entail complex planning
proposals with active engagement of a sociological and anthropological view of space [4]. The
opening of the submerged tunnel is a very important project for the second largest city of a country
that suffers the impact of globalization more and more. The stake of the opening of this tunnel poign-
antly portrays the need for a modern strategic planning for the development of Thessaloniki as a
‘metropolis of the Balkans’, through the connection of public and private initiative with participa-
tory processes that guaranty sustainable development. The major conflicts that came up last year
concerning this project depict the incapability to incorporate processes of social transaction between
the institutions and the social groups of the city. This theoretical approach pertains to the logic of
scheduling and planning which in the case of the submerged tunnel was not adhered to. Furthermore,
if we raise the question of sustainable development combined with planning at the city level [5, 6], we
find that the result of the objections and reactions raised by both active public groups (e.g. ‘Citizens
against TST’ [7]) and academics specialized in urban planning [8] is positively correlated with the
position of the citizens questioned in our sample. The critiques against the project emphasize the lack
of its viability and refer, among other things, to the fact that it encourages mobility based on private
means of transport instead of public transport, such as the metropolitan bus and subway, although
the latter is still at the construction stage, and to the reduction of green space because of the widening
of a part of the road above the sea level – a fact that will contribute toward a bigger cutting off of the
urban fabric from its natural continuation, the sea. These positions are supported, as we will find out,
by the replies of the citizens of Thessaloniki to questions about the environmental impacts of TST.
Consequently, the question set at this point is whether strategic planning and urban governance should
take into account the sustainable development, part or precondition of which is the acceptance, the
support and the multiplying of the impacts of a specific and set kind of intervention in the urban space.
In parallel to the issue of the sustainability of the project, it was claimed that the submerged tunnel
would help the completion of the ring road in the south part of the city, which until now was restricted
by the natural obstacle of the Thermaikos Gulf. But, can the TST project, being a major road project,
bypass the city center? There is an important debate here, and a serious counterargument is that it is
meant for facilitation of traffic, localized to a relatively short bypass of the historical city center. We will
only keep in mind the fact that in any case it is a road project that intends to facilitate urban mobility.
The sociological approach of the city and the international experience of the evolution of big cities
in Europe and America are the approaches which show that the exponential urbanization of the
past century brought new realities in the foreground. From the urban ecology of Park [9] and the
organization of the ‘natural areas’ and districts in the cities to the suburbanization after World War II
I. Frangopoulos et al., Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009) 334
in the states, studies [10] show that the development of the suburbs led to a degradation of the inner
city zones. Key point of the analysis is the discovery that transportation with privately owned vehicles
was boosted and an extended network of road network was constructed. Later on, these two factors
facilitated the transformation of these suburbs into cities. Of course, the central business district of
the American city that is analyzed is different from the center of the French model city, which has
less functional aspects and more socially unifying aspects [11]. It is now unquestionable that the
tendencies of metropolization and urban diffusion are closely connected to the boom of mobility and
the emergence of new places of activity [12]. The issue of Thessaloniki’s development does not differ
from the above processes and it seems to connect the American and the European model of city
development that is diffused but insists on the importance of the traditional city center.
In this context, the development of governance mechanisms at a metropolitan regional level
exceeds the narrow boundaries of the city and it includes complete functional spatial entities. These
entities form the basis of the measure that mainly refers to the daily commuting zone [13]. These are the
exact forms of governance that are missing from the planning of the major urban intervention, the
TST. This absence of strategic planning is mirrored in the opinions of the citizens of Thessaloniki.
This research – even if it comes in the aftermath, as the final decisions for the realization of the
project have already been made – gives voice to the citizens so that they could express their opinion
on this important urban intervention. Therefore, the methodology of this research was based on the
questionnaire for acquiring data, which was addressed to citizens (over 15 years old) who reside in
the wider urban agglomeration of Thessaloniki. In order to put the questionnaire together, we con-
ducted a series of semi-directed and structured interviews with (a) experts, (b) ‘privileged witnesses’
and (c) a sample of the involved population, so that the final form of the questionnaire would avoid
influencing the person questioned and would pose the questions in as neutral a manner as possible.
The sample of the research was selected randomly, but an effort was made to make it as repre-
sentative as possible, as it is calculated to a great extent in reference to sex, age, educational level
and residency. The areas were not selected in accordance with the administrative division of the
municipalities of the urban agglomeration of Thessaloniki, but by consideration of the way the citizens
define the city center, the western or eastern districts and the suburbs. The research was conducted
from 7 to 9 March 2007, with the participation of 621 citizens. During this period, there was no
intense public debate, no interventions or statements in the mass media on the subject of the sub-
merged tunnel that might influence the participants’ answers. Finally, both the primary analysis of the
questionnaires and the verification of the variables were carried out using the SPSS software.
3 DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLUTION OF THE CITY OF THESSALONIKI: THE URBAN

DIPOLE AND THE BYPASS OF THE CITY CENTer VIA THE SEA
There are three prevailing periods of evolution of the city’s urban fabric in recent years (19th and
20th centuries). An inherent phenomenon that obeys geomorphologic parameters (a narrow passage
between mountain and sea) and involves urban interventions (demolishing of the Byzantine walls
1866–1889, redesigning after the 1917 fire) is the emergence of a unified urban center which ‘pushes’
the city’s future expansion to the east and west.
As for the three periods, we define the first as the emergence of a center that puts forward rationalist
functionality [14] as opposed to the self-contained, small, scattered and introverted neighborhoods
of the Ottoman years. In the second period, we notice the phenomenon of population increase caused
by the incoming of refugees (1922–1928) and the post-war population boom (1951–1971) due to
inner migration and agricultural exit. The third period refers to the new inflows of native population
and economic immigrants from the Eastern European countries, and it is shaped by the phenomenon
of suburbanization and the emergence of a new middle class.
So, a new compact center emerges, defined by the city block and the design based on the hippo-
damian system which unifies the city but marks its transferability from east to west via five basic
road axes. Successive expansions of the city to the east and the west (agricultural rehabilitation for
refugees of the 1922 Near East Crisis, ex. Kalamaria, Polihni), illegal constructions and the unau-
thorized urban expansions resulted in the augmentation of the eastern and western parts of the city
and in the impressive phenomenon of the incapability to empower the city center, not as a symbolic
and administrative element anymore but as a unifying access point from all sides of the city.
Thessaloniki with its one million inhabitants is a city which has seen its size more than double
itself within a period of 40 years. The complete urbanized area of Thessaloniki’s urban agglomeration
is 5.500 hectares, a basically compact area with high density and intense clustering problems. Addi-
tionally, the main characteristic of the modern urban development of Thessaloniki is the intense
reconstruction in the zone around the city, both in the urbanized parts and in the ones that are outside
the city plan. In general, the intense diffusion of houses and almost all economic activity in the space
around the city is one of the basic characteristics of its structure, with consequences on the urban
flows and the quality of the environment and on the capability to manage these consequences [16].
Given the location of the central and historical area of the urban fabric of the city between the
‘natural boundaries’, the mountain in the north and the sea in the south, the city did not have the
option of expanding in the north–south axis. Consequently, the urbanized space expanded
in the east–west axis and in the perimeter of the Thermaikos Bay. The existing housing development
shows a city shaped with its center being the point where two interconnected circles are joined,
covering an area larger than the current limits of the urban agglomeration of Thessaloniki (Fig. 1).
So, the two urban poles (eastern and western) communicate through five basic road axes that pass
through the center of the city.
Additionally, the current condition of Thessaloniki’s transportation system – with the rapid expansion
of the city and its activities, the great rise of the vehicle owning index and the constantly rising need
for transportation, combined with the absence of new projects, the deficient or bad management of the
existing infrastructure and the absence of urban transportation policies [16] – demanded the circumven-
tion of the center and at the same time the connection of the urban dipole with the construction of the
Inner Ring Road (late 1980s) and then the Outer Ring Road. The completion of the ring road of the
urban agglomeration of Thessaloniki requires bypassing the center via the sea. At present, the project of
the submerged tunnel that is under construction attempts to solve this problem in a localized manner.
Figure 1: Thessaloniki’s city center as the contact point of two urban poles. Source: Google Earth,
authors’ elaboration.
4 THE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
4.1 Social–spatial characteristics of the sample
As far as demographics go, the research sample includes 284 men (45.7%) and 337 women (54.3%),
of whom 22.4% are 15–23 years old, 25.2% are 24–29 years old, 33.3% are 45–64 years old and
0.5% are ≥65 years old. The educational level of the participants is rather high, the largest percentage
(30.9%) being high school graduates and 29.6% being college graduates. It is also worth mentioning
that a large part of the sample (12.4%) has a postgraduate or doctorate degree and only a small part
(5%) has not finished high school. As for the residency of the participants, the largest part (34%)
resides in the eastern districts, followed by western districts (29%), the center of the city (23.5%)
and the eastern and western suburbs (7%). As for employment, the vast majority of the sample is
employed (78.3%) and the 21.7% who do not work are mainly high school students and college
students and those who are unemployed, as can be concluded from the age span of the sample,
because the percentage of the sample in the age group of ≥65 years is very small. The basic work
areas of the sample are the city center and the western districts, with about 30% each, followed by
the eastern districts with 18.7%.
4.2 Urban mobility and representations for the city areas
Next, we attempt to record the daily transportation habits of the participants and, indirectly, the
representations they have for the center and the other parts of the city. The participants use mainly a
privately owned vehicle (46.1%) and the buses (32.1%) for their daily transportation needs. Another
important part of the sample (11.8%) travels daily on foot. As for visiting (and passing through) the
center, 32% of the participants pass through or visit the center daily, 40% one to three times a week,
while 28.4% less than once a week. Recreation–entertainment (28.2%) and work (25.7%) are the
main reasons of these transports. As for passing through the city on the east–west axis or vice versa,
the vast majority of the sample (72.5%) uses this option, which proves that there is an intense spatial
mobility. These transportations are mostly made for business (34.7%) and recreation–entertainment
(26.4) reasons. For this transport, 56.7% of the participants choose the inner streets network of the
city, while 43.3% choose the ring road. This confirms that although the tendency to bypass the city
via the ring road is high, the transferability of the city is not appalling to the citizens – even under
these conditions – and it may still have a symbolic attraction for the residents of the eastern and
western areas.
4.3 Opinions on the submerged tunnel and its impact
After the investigation of the social and spatial characteristics of the sample comes a series of questions
with the purpose of recording the participants’ opinion on the submerged tunnel and its impact. In
these questions, the tunnel was viewed as already existing, and the participants were asked to imagine
how it would function in relation to the city’s transportation system and their daily transports. To the
question, which of the three roots – the main streets of the city, the ring road and the submerged
tunnel – they would choose if they had to travel east or west, depending on the area of residency, the
largest part of participants chose the ring road (46.4%), another part chose the central streets of the city
(30.4%) and an important part (23.2%) chose the submerged tunnel. From a grouping of the answers
to an open question on not using the submerged tunnel, 51% claimed that the submerged tunnel will
not be useful for their transport, 26.6% would avoid it because of the toll, 15.4% thought that it
would not solve the traffic problems of the city or are opposed to its construction and a part of the
participants (6.5%) thought that the submerged tunnel will not be safe and expressed fear.
After that, the participants evaluated the impact the submerged tunnel would have on an environmental,
traffic and urban level. As seen in Fig. 2, in the section of questions that refer to the impact on traffic,
the participants view the contribution of the submerged tunnel as positive, as there is a tendency to
see small or big improvement in most issues. On the contrary, in the environmental impact section,
they view the artery skeptically, as they estimate that there will be a general deterioration in the
environmental conditions of the city. Taking into consideration the section of impacts, we form
the opinion that the citizens of Thessaloniki are aware of the environmental problems that will
arise from the construction of the TST. Foremost among them, the environmental depreciation of the
Thermaikos Gulf, followed by the reduction of the urban green spaces, the rise in the level of air
pollution and noise pollution and finally the reduction of energy benefit that will occur from the
project. At this point, we can argue that despite the lack of information on the conditions and the impacts
of the project, the citizens acknowledge the urban problems that will accumulate from such a major
intervention on the urban space. Therefore, we can see that they agree with the specialized scientists
and the active public groups that worked at high pressure against the construction of the TST.
Nevertheless, a contradiction in the citizens’ opinion emerges from the questionnaire. On the one
hand the citizens are not fully opposed to the project as it seems to solve daily problems they face
with an inefficient public transport network and the necessity to use a privately owned vehicle. On the
other hand, the same citizens are completely aware of the sustainability problems of the project and
its consequences on the natural and urban environment.
Concerning the urban impact, the participants do not have a unified position, as they believe
that some interventions of the submerged tunnel will improve and others will worsen the city
image. The traffic problem of the city and the image of the old quay are the two things most
participants (62.3% and 64.1%, respectively) believe will benefit from the completion of this great
Figure 2: Views on the impact of the TST.

project. On the contrary, the image of the western entrance of the city, the state of the Thermaikos
gulf and the image of the new quay are the things most participants (62.5%, 53.8% and 45.7%,
respectively) believe will suffer from the construction of the submerged tunnel. A more complete
image of the participants’ opinion on the impact of the submerged tunnel on the city of Thessaloniki
is shown in Fig. 2.
4.4 Areas of residence, transportation means and the submerged tunnel
Through statistic process and the combination of some variants of the questionnaire, we found that
those questioned on the transport from east to west or vice versa choose their route based on the
area they reside in. Residents of the eastern suburbs would choose the submerged tunnel by 27.9%,
while the residents of the eastern districts, who would choose it by 18%, appear to be more appre-
hensive. Furthermore, an important part of the residents of the center and the western districts,
26.7% and 25%, respectively, would use the submerged tunnel. On the other hand, the ring road is
the main artery for almost all areas of the city, as it is preferred by most residents of all areas, with
the exception of those who reside in the center. It is worth noting that the residents of the suburbs
(eastern and western) and to a lesser degree those in the western districts avoid transports through
the city center, while a large percentage (35.1%) of the residents in the eastern districts prefer to
pass through it. A more complete image of the participants’ choices concerning the route they
would follow for their eastern or western transports, depending on their area of residency, can be
seen in Fig. 3.
Considering the means of transportation and the route followed as parameters (passing through
the main streets of the city, bypass via the ring road, use of the submerged tunnel), we notice that
vehicle users mostly choose the ring road (56.3%) – avoiding the center, as only 18.5% would choose
it – while 25.2% would choose the submerged tunnel.
Considering the area of residence and the mobility from east to west or vice versa as parameters,
we notice that the residents of the western and eastern suburbs (85.4% and 79.1%, respectively), in
contrast to the residents of the center, travel more often. To be exact, the reasons for transport from east
to west and vice versa differ, depending on the area of residency, and it is found that the residents of
the eastern districts travel to the west mainly for business reasons, while the residents of the western
districts travel to the east for recreational and entertainment reasons.
Western Suburbs 11,6% 60,5% 27,9%
Eastern Suburbs 35,1% 46,9% 18,0%
Western City Area 46,6% 26,7% 26,7%
Eastern City Area 20,6% 54,4% 25,0%
City Center 12,2% 63,4% 24,4%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Central city roads Ring road Submerged Tunnel
Figure 3: The participants’ selected route for moving from east to west or vice versa, depending on
the area of residence.
In addition, significant differences appear in the evaluation of the submerged tunnel’s impact
depending on the participants’ area of residency. So, residents of the western suburbs are more
apprehensive as on almost every issue they predict deterioration because of its construction. The
same image emerges from the residents of the center, with the exception of the questions on noise
and the image of the old quay, where they predict the improvement of the current situation, which is
mostly related with turning Nikis Avenue into a pedestrian zone. Residents of the eastern suburbs
and the western districts appear more optimistic because on most questions they predict the improve-
ment of the current situation with the construction of the submerged tunnel. How the participants
evaluate the impact of the submerged tunnel is connected with the area they reside in. So, the tunnel
in question would be selected mostly by the residents of the eastern suburbs and the western
districts, as opposed to the residents of the western suburbs who have a negative opinion on the
submerged tunnel’s impact.
4.5 Modern cultural models and dynamics of search for city transportation alternatives
If we correlate the participants’ sex with the intent to use the submerged tunnel (Fig. 4) and with their
evaluation of its impact, not only do we see no differences between men and women but we also
notice an extraordinary consistency in their answers. Men and women have the same percentages of
intent to use the submerged tunnel and they evaluate its impact in the same way. In our opinion, this
common behavior depicts that both sexes appear to agree when it comes to common problems of the
city and concerns about transportation within it. This draws attention to equal participation of the
two sexes in urban life and mobility. We could also make the assumption that both men and women
of Thessaloniki adopt the model of modern mobility. We have already seen that the main means of
transportation is the private car and this applies to both the men and the women of our sample.
Combining this conclusion with the previous one whereby men and women tend to adopt common
practices of transportation, we talked about the ‘modern’ cultural patterns of transportation, meaning
the use of the private car especially by women. The increase in the percentage of female users of
private cars, which enhances the symbolic image of the emancipated woman, is a relatively recent
reality in Greece. On our part, as researchers, this notion of ‘modern cultural pattern’ is not approved
but it serves as a comparative tool to show the difference in the social profile of the female sex in
relation to the past. Modern women have a distinctive geographical mobility, thanks to the private
Female 29,38% 46,88% 23,74%
Male 31,69% 45,77% 22,54%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Figure 4: The participants’ selected route for moving from east to west or vice versa, in relation to
their sex.
car, but they also come up against the same problems of traffic in the city as men do and respond in
exactly the same way men do. In our opinion, the phenomenon of suburbanization is directly linked
with this reality. The extensive use of the privately owned vehicle downgrades the sustainability of
the city and stresses the prominent necessity, not so much, for the support of alternative routes for
transport, as might be the TST, but the need for alternative public means of transport, such as metro,
bus, sea transport, bicycle, etc.
As for the intent to use the submerged tunnel in relation to age, as is shown in Fig. 5, a
significant portion of those belonging to the young age group (5–29 years old) would choose the
submerged tunnel (larger than that for the other age groups), but they would mainly choose the city
center and secondly the ring road. A majority of those in the middle age group (30–44 years old)
prefer the ring road, while the rest are divided between the submerged tunnel and the center.
The majority of those in the older age group (45+ years old) seem to avoid the submerged tunnel
(as only 15.9% would chose it) and prefer taking the ring road. So we could say that younger
ages tend to adopt ‘alternative’ transportation choices more easily, although in our sample this
age group has the lowest percentage of transportation with a privately owned vehicle (30.1%)
in reference to the other age groups. This could be interpreted as a result of not experiencing
the problem of traffic in the city in the same way the other age groups do. On the contrary,
older age groups avoid the submerged tunnel (as only 15.9% would choose it), a fact that
can be interpreted as an illustration of their realism and pessimism. We could also explain
this choice of the older ages as a result of the use of a privately owned vehicle by 63.5% of this
age group.
Finally, how the participants evaluate the impact is related to their intent, or lack of, to use the
submerged tunnel (Fig. 3). Therefore, as we see in Fig. 6, those who would choose the city center,
face on the submerged tunnel with reserve and recognize negative impacts on almost all sections. On
the contrary, in the section of traffic impacts, they adopt a positive attitude and recognize the positive
contribution of the project.
As we can deduce from Fig. 7, a similar attitude is also adopted by those who would choose
the ring road, though slightly more neutral as far as the impacts on both the urban and envi-
ronmental sections are concerned and more positive as far as the impacts on the traffic section
are concerned.
Old age 27,73% 56,30% 15,97%
Middle age 24,15% 51,69% 24,15%
Young age 35,93% 38,64% 25,42%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Figure 5: The participants’ selected route for moving from east to west or vice versa, in relation to
their age.
Figure 6: Views on the impact of the TST in relation to the intent of using the city center.
Figure 7: Views on the impact of the TST in relation to the intent of using the ring road.
On the other hand, as can be seen in Fig. 8, a controversial attitude seems to be adopted by those
who would choose the submerged tunnel, as they see positive impacts in all the sections with
significantly high percentages. Especially in the section on traffic impacts, we can observe that they
assume that the TST project will result in important improvements in all the substantive sections and
what is very important is the large percentages of improvement (almost 50%).
Figure 8: Views on the impact of the TST in relation to the intent of its use.
It would be reasonable to correlate the way the participants evaluate the impacts of the submerged
tunnel with their intention to use it. As a result, those who choose to approve the project and intend
to use it show a positive attitude as they accept and trust it for their transfer. On the contrary, those
who use the ring road and to a bigger extent the users of the city center originally reject the project
as they avoid using it. Therefore, it is only reasonable that they predict negative consequences from
this project. Nevertheless, what is impressive is that although they have a negative attitude towards
the project, they still recognize the possible positive contribution it might have on the traffic sector.
5 CONCLUSIONS
By analyzing the citizens’ opinions about the consequences of the TST on the city of Thessaloniki,
we can draw some basic conclusions that are related with basic concepts of spatial planning and
major developmental projects. The submerged tunnel is viewed in contradicting ways as the evalua-
tion of the citizens pinpoints the positive and the negative sides of it (see Fig. 2). This contradiction
lies in the fact that even though they ascertain that the project does not meet the precondition of
sustainable development, they simultaneously recognize that it will have a positive impact on the
traffic. The reason for the aforementioned contradiction is that citizens have been poorly informed,
have hardly been asked to participate in the decision-making process and have therefore been con-
strained in using their own privately owned vehicle due to the lack of an effective public
transportation system. The citizens of Thessaloniki see the submerged tunnel as a project of local-
ized intervention, while we notice the participants’ high preference for the use of the ring road, as it
serves almost all areas of the city, as opposed to the TST that only serves part of it.
Also, through the research we can see the distrust of the local community of major Thessaloniki,
a fact that has its roots in the lack of information and attests the absence of participatory processes
which every spatial intervention requires. Besides, the greatest advantage of participatory planning
is the wide social acceptance of such important spatial interventions.
It is now unquestionable that the tendencies of metropolization and urban diffusion of Thessaloniki
are closely related to the boom of mobility and the emergence of new areas of activity, like recreational
and commercial centers in the east (IKEA and COSMOS) that attract users from all regional cities
of Central Macedonia and beyond. Of course, the residents of the city and its wider region are not
indifferent to this attraction. Furthermore, Thessaloniki seems to connect the American and the
European model of city development that is diffused but insists on the importance of the traditional
city center, and this is portrayed in the tendency to approach the historical center. The citizens’
answers show that they are aware of the problems of the city, they participate in the city’s social life
with an intense mobility, they adopt a modern suburban model of living and they trust the existing
and – at least so far – efficient solutions of transportation (ring road).
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E. Batala & T. Tsitsoni, Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009) 344–355
STREET TREE HEALTH ASSESSMENT SYSTEM:

A TOOL FOR STUDY OF URBAN GREENERY
E. BATALA & T. TSITSONI
Faculty of Forestry and Natural Environment, Laboratory of Silviculture, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece.
ABSTRACT
This study deals with the recording of tree health and the evaluation of the greenery ratio, with a view to
increase it, in three representative street trees in Thessaloniki city, North Greece. The three street trees are
representative because of the species composition and the health of the trees on one hand and the flow of traffic
on the other hand. The three street trees investigated in this study are located along three central roads of
Thessaloniki city, namely Nikis Avenue, Egnatia Street and Karamanli Avenue. The study also includes the
formulation of proposals in order to make some improvement in the choice of suitable species so as to increase
the amount of greenery in the city. The results show that the most important problems related to tree health in
the three streets are the leaves being attacked by insects and fungi as well as dry and broken branches of the
crown. The majority of trees have moderate health. The greenery ratio in the three street trees is evaluated by
the greenery’s surface and volume indicators, which are calculated depending not only on the number of trees
but also on the surface and volume of their crowns. Finally, a linear model for the greenery’s volume indicator
is estimated which depends on tree height, crown length and crown projection on the ground.
Keywords: crown surface, tree health, tree species, urban greenery.
1 INTRODUCTION
The 20th century was the century of urbanization. Nowadays, it is calculated that more than half of
the world’s population lives in urban regions and by 2030 the urban population is expected to be
twice as large as the corresponding rural population [1–4]. The procedure of urbanization had important
natural and spatial effects on the landscape because large parts of it were transformed into urban
landscapes and therefore the relationship between human society and the natural environment
changed dramatically [5–7]. Urban greenery is of fundamental importance for the quality of life in
our ever increasingly urbanized societies [8–10]. Although trees have covered a large part of human
settlements throughout history, their great value for humans has only recently been studied [11–13].
More specifically, the term ‘urban greenery’ refers to open green spaces that are located in the urban web
and include parks, street trees and other garden areas [14–16]. Urban greenery beyond the aesthetic
and designing uses also offers social and psychological services which are very important for the well
being of citizens. Large green areas in the urban and periurban web can reduce the stress of the
residents and refresh them [17–20].
The urban environment constitutes a difficult biotope for trees. Environmental pressures decrease
the vitality of many species and increase their sensitivity to diseases and parasitic attacks. Trees that
grow in cities suffer from the effects of negative ecological factors such as poor soil (compressed and
with insufficient or low proportion of humidity and nutrients), polluted atmosphere and vandalism.
These problems can only be prevented by choosing the proper species [21–26].
The aim of this study is to record tree health and to evaluate the greenery ratio, with a view to
increase it, in three representative street trees in Thessaloniki city, North Greece. The three street trees
are representative because of the species composition and health of the tress on one hand and the
flow of traffic on the other hand. The three street trees investigated in this study are located along
three central roads of Thessaloniki city, namely Nikis Avenue, Egnatia Street and Karamanli Avenue.
The ultimate goal of the study is the formulation of proposals in order to make some improvement

DOI: 10.2495/SDP-V4-N4-344-355
345 E. Batala & T. Tsitsoni, Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009)
in the choice of suitable species, for their survival in the urban environment, so as to increase the
greenery ratio in the city. For this reason a linear model was derived, which express the relationship
between the green volume indicator and three tree variables (tree height, crown’s beginning height
and crown projection).
2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

The research took place in the municipality of Thessaloniki, North Greece, and included the study
of the street trees along three central roads of Thessaloniki city, namely Nikis Avenue, Egnatia Street
and Karamanli Avenue. The three roads were chosen not only because the traffic is dense but also for
the species composition, the health and the characteristics of the street trees that are located along
them. The first street tree planted in Nikis Avenue is Platanus orientalis, the second street tree
planted in Egnatia Street is Celtis australis, and the third street tree planted in Karamanli Avenue
includes Albizia julibrissin, Liquidambar orientalis, Cupressus arizonica and the clone Populus x
euramericana cv. ‘I-45/51’.
The total number of trees on the three roads was 913. Measurements were taken from all trees in
Nikis Avenue and from 20% of the trees in Egnatia Street and Karamanli Avenue (because of the
large number of trees), that is, 248 trees, of which 81 trees are from Nikis Avenue, 70 trees from
Egnatia Street and 97 trees from Karamanli Avenue (Table 1).
The trees in Egnatia Street and Karamanli Avenue were chosen by systematic sampling. According
to this method, one tree from the first five trees of each street tree was selected randomly and afterwards
the choice of the sample trees was done per five trees until the sample was completed. Each sampled
tree was measured for tree height, tree breast diameter, crown’s beginning height and crown dimensions.
The crown length, the projection of the crown on the ground and the crown volume were calculated.
Assuming that the tree crown is usually modeled as a cone, the crown projection (CP) is the surface
of a circle with diameter di and so it was calculated using the formula CPi = π/4di2. The crown diameter
di was calculated using the formula di = (d1 + d2)/2, where d1 and d2 are the crown diameters measured
from east to west and north to south, respectively. The crown volume (CV) was calculated using the
formula CV = CP × L/3, where L is the crown length which results if the crown’s beginning height
is subtracted from the total tree height [27, 28]. The product (crown projection of the average tree) ×
(number of trees in each road) was characterized as the active greenery’s surface, while the product
Table 1: Number of trees of each species, total number of trees and number of sample trees in the
three studied roads.
Number of
Total trees of Number of
number of each sample
Road Species trees species trees
Nikis Avenue Platanus orientalis 81 81 81
Egnatia Street Celtis australis 347 347 70
Karamanli Avenue Albizia julibrissin 326 185 65
Populus x euramericana cv. 141
‘I-45/51’
Central division of Liquidambar orientalis 159 60 32
Karamanli Avenue Cupressus arizonica 99
Total 913 913 248
E. Batala & T. Tsitsoni, Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009) 346
(crown volume of the medium tree) × (number of trees in each road) was characterized as the active
greenery’s volume [29, 30].
The recording of the damage was done according to a specific damage diagnosis catalogue and the
tree species were grouped according to their health into four categories: good health (trees without
health problems), moderate health (trees with health problems that can be corrected), bad health
(trees that must be replaced) and dead [14, 31].
Finally, for each road the greenery’s surface indicator (the active greenery’s surface divided by the
length of the road) and the greenery’s volume indicator (the active greenery’s volume of the crowns
divided by the length of the road) were calculated. The relationship between the volume indicator
and three tree variables (tree height, crown’s beginning height and crown projection) was derived by
a linear model using the statistical program SPSS version 12.0 for Windows.
A presentation of the results of the statistical processing of the data is given by using box and
whisker plots. A box and whisker plot is a graph that presents information from a five-number summary
(the smallest observation, lower quartile, median, upper quartile and largest observation). This plot
is especially useful for indicating whether a distribution is skewed and whether there are potential
unusual observations (outliers) in the data set. This type of graph is used to show the shape of the
distribution, its central value and its variability. In a box and whisker plot, the ends of the box are the
upper and lower quartiles, so the box spans the interquartile range. The median is marked by a vertical
line inside the box. The whiskers are the two lines outside the box that extend to the highest and lowest
observations. The position of the median in the plot defines whether a distribution is skewed or normal.
If the median is in the middle of the box, then the data distribution is normal. If the median is close to
the lower end of the box, then the data distribution has a positive skewness. On the other hand, if the
median is close to the upper end of the box, then the data distribution is negatively skewed [32, 33].
3 RESULTS
Box and whisker plots of tree height values and tree breast diameter values in the three central roads
and the central division are depicted in Fig. 1. The figure indicates that the distribution of tree height
data is normal in Egnatia Street while the distribution of tree breast diameter data is normal in Nikis
Avenue and in the central division of Karamanli Avenue.
Box and whisker plots of tree height values and tree breast diameter values of the six tree species
are depicted in Fig. 2. The figure indicates that the distribution of tree height data is normal in the
species Celtis australis (species 2) and Populus x euramericana cv. ‘I-45/51’ (species 6) while the
distribution of tree breast diameter data is normal in the species Platanus orientalis (species 1),
Cupressus arizonica (species 5) and Populus x euramericana cv. ‘I-45/51’ (species 6).
The health problems that the trees of each species had are presented in Figs 3–8. In each figure,
each problem is depicted using the code number shown in Table 2.
The results show that the most important problems in the three street trees are the following:
• Insect and fungal damage: This problem is most evident in Platanus orientalis and the clone
Populus x euramericana cv. ‘I-45/51’.
• Dry and broken branches of the crown: This problem is most evident in the trees of the species
Celtis australis, Albizia julibrissin, Liquidambar orientalis, Cupressus arizonica and the clone
Populus x euramericana cv. ‘I-45/51’.
• Bark damage: This problem is most evident in the trees of the species Celtis australis and
Albizia julibrissin.
• Trees whose crown touches the crown of other trees: This is a big percentage in the species
Cupressus arizonica and Platanus orientalis.
Figure 1: Box and whisker plots of tree height and tree breast diameter for the three central roads and the
central division. 1, Nikis Avenue; 2, Egnatia Street; 3, Karamanli Avenue; 4, central division
of Karamanli Avenue.
Figure 2: Box and whisker plots of tree height and tree breast diameter for the six silvicultural
species. 1, Platanus orientalis; 2, Celtis australis; 3, Albizia julibrissin; 4, Liquidambar
orientalis; 5, Cupressus arizonica; 6, Populus x euramericana cv. ‘I-45/51’.
The health of the trees belonging to the species Platanus orientalis, Celtis australis and Cupressus
arizonica was characterized as moderate while the majority of the trees belonging to the species Albizia
julibrissin, Liquidambar orientalis and Populus x euramericana cv. ‘I-45/51’ have a good health.
The values of the greenery’s surface and volume indicators are the highest in Nikis Avenue, which
consists of Platanus orientalis.
Figure 3: Platanus orientalis problems.
Figure 4: Celtis australis problems.

Figure 5: Albizia julibrissin problems.
Figure 6: Populus x euramericana cv. ‘I-45/51’ problems.

Figure 7: Liquidambar orientalis problems.
Figure 8: Cupressus arizonica problems.

Table 2: Diagnosis catalogue of tree health problems and damage.

1: Drying out of the crown 14: Soil removal
2: Insect and fungal damage 15: Root damage due to construction work
3: Ivy on trunk 16: Pavement damage due to roots
4: Tree too close to road 17: Root damage
5: Long crown depth close to asphalt surface 18: Fluid secretion on trunk
6: Crown width over road 19: Bark damage
7: Tree too close to buildings 20: Tree decay
8: Crowns touching each other 21: Narrow bifurcation
9: Crowns touching buildings 22: Water retention in bifurcation
10: Damage from construction 23: Dry and broken branches
11: Trees too close to cables or light source 24: Spreading branches
12: Inadequate root space depth 25: Branch tufts due to pruning
13: Compaction of soil 26: Intensive pruning
Table 3: Coefficients of the volume indicator model.

Unstandardized coefficient
Standardized
Model B Standard error coefficient (b) t Sig.
Constant –104.048 10.179 –10.221 0.000
Height 14.640 1.058 0.350 13.836 0.000
Height of the start –18.734 4.154 –0.079 –4.510 0.000
of the crown
Crown projection 3.481 0.119 –0.701 29.197 0.000
Table 4: Analysis of variance of the volume indicator model.

Model Sum of squares d.f. Mean square F Sig.
Regression 6,911,054 3 2,303,684.723 1,183.283 0.000
Residual 4,750,334 244 1,946.858
Total 7,386,088 247
All model coefficients are significant at the <0.01 level of significance.
Finally, using a multiple linear regression and the tree height, crown’s beginning height and
crown projection as independent variables, the following volume indicator model was estimated:
Y = –104.048 + 14.64X1 (tree height) – 18.73X2 (crown’s beginning height) + 3.48X3 (crown
projection), with adjusted R2 = 93.5%. The standard errors and the significance of the model
coefficients are presented in Table 3, while the analysis of variance is given in Table 4.
4 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Urban forestry was developed as a special branch of forestry in North America and was imported to
Europe in the 1980s. However, today, the significance and values of urban forestry are not totally
recognized and at the same time there is also a lack of comparative research in this sector [4, 17].
With regard to the health condition of street trees in other European cities, the followings observa-
tions have been made.
In Brussels, the number of trees in the streets of the city is about 19,500 with about 200–300 trees
being replaced every year. The total number of trees that are planted every year by the municipality
is approximately 2,500 [34, 35].
In Munich, the most commonly used species for street trees are Tilia cordata, Aesculus
hippocastanum, Acer platanoides, Tilia xeuchlora, Robinia pseudoacacia and Fraxinus excelsior.
The most important factors that influence the survival of trees planted in the majority of German
cities are: (i) the ice-breaking salt, which is very catastrophic for the trees, and so its use should be
forbidden; (ii) inadequate root space depth (code number 12); (iii) compaction of soil (code number 13),
which causes anaerobic soil conditions; and (iv) the cover of planting surface, which leads to the
insufficient airing of the ground and fortifies the desiccation of trees [35, 36].
In Ireland, the Dutch elm disease (code number 2) caused serious damage to many trees in the
majority of Irish cities. The fungi Erwinia amylovora and Stereum purpureum have also attacked
many street trees. The most commonly used species for street trees in Dublin are Acer platanoides,
Platanus x hispanica, Betula spp., Fagus spp. and Sorbus aucuparia. Since 1970–1990 an average of
20,000 trees/year have been planted on the streets and in the open green spaces. Today, 40,000 trees
are planted annually and 60% of them are located along the streets [35, 37].
In Budapest, the number of street trees is about 32,000 and the most serious health problems that
they have are: (i) ice-breaking salt, (ii) inadequate root space depth (code number 12) and (iii) infected
and damaged barks (code number 19) [35, 38].
In Swedish cities, tree plantations are a procedure that has been happening for many years now. The
most commonly used genera are Tilia (31.5%), Acer (13.8%) and Sorbus (16.9%). In North Sweden, the
genus Betula dominates. The use of elms is rather limited because of the Dutch elm disease [35, 39].
In Finland, the choice of the species that are used in the development of urban greenery is restricted
by the harsh northern climate. For this reason, the choice of species aims at the enrichment of the
native tree-flora with resilient species, origins and clones. The species composition that is used in the
urban area of Finland is very common to that of West and Central Europe, but poorer. The most com-
monly used species for street trees are Tilia vulgaris, Betula pendula, Acer platanoides, Sorbus
aucuparia and Ulmus glabra. It is also estimated that 100,000 trees are planted annually [35, 40].
In the municipality of Thessaloniki, the number of street trees is about 30,000 and the most commonly
used species are Sophora japonica (16%), Albizia julibrissin (15%), Robinia pseudoacacia (14%),
Acer negundo/Acer pseudoplatanus (12%), Populus sp. (11%), Platanus orientalis (5%), Koelreuteria
paniculata (4%), Celtis australis (3%), Citrus aurantium (3%), and Liquidambar orientalis, Tilia
tomentosa, Hybiscus syriacus, Ulmus campestris, Olea europea, Cercis siliquastrum (2%) [26].
The analysis of the results led to the following conclusions about the health and the damage that
the species presented as well as to the formulation of proposals to avoid these problems.
The attacks on the leaves of Platanus orientalis by fungi and insects are secondary damage and it
is caused mainly by the limited available growing space and the insufficient soil conditions. In
Nikis Avenue’s street trees, this species forms a very large crown. In order to achieve the normal
development of the crown (the crown must be aired and the interactions between crowns must be
avoided) and the vertical position of the trunks, a bigger spacing (>10 m) should be applied between
the trees. The dry and broken branches that the crown of many species (Celtis australis, Albizia
julibrissin, Liquidambar orientalis, Cupressus arizonica and the clone Populus x euramericana cv.
‘I-45/51’) presents are due to the strong pruning (which means pruning almost all the branches of
the crown), which resulting in the development of tufts of branch shoots. These branch shoots had
desiccation problems because of self-thinning, which is a functional reaction of the tree to the
excessive increase of branches. This problem is intensified by the insufficient soil conditions. In the
case of Cupressus arizonica, the existence of dry and broken branches is due to the early ageing that
this species presents because it grows fast. With regard to the pruning of the species Celtis australis,
Albizia julibrissin and Liquidambar orientalis, it is recommended that it should be avoided, but
when this is necessary it should be done according to the guidelines laid down for pruning.
It may be said that the biggest density of greenery is present in Nikis Avenue, which consists of
Platanus orientalis, because the values of the greenery’s surface and volume indicators are the highest
in this avenue. This conclusion results from the fact that the trees of Platanus orientalis have the
largest average values of height, crown’s beginning height, crown projection and breast diameter in
relation to the trees in the other roads. Egnatia Street has small a greenery volume because of its
narrow pavements which prohibit the right growth of the trees. It is suggested that the trees should
not be pruned unless it is necessary and the gaps between the street trees should be filled by using the
species Celtis australis, which is a very suitable species for the urban environment of Thessaloniki.
Karamanli Avenue also has a small greenery volume with unsuitable species. The poplar and cypress
must be removed and substituted by a suitable urban-friendly species. The former because it is
susceptible to branch breakage by windfall, a dangerous outcome for citizens and cars. The latter
because its crown presents thinning caused by the pollution in urban environments.
With regard to the linear model that concerns the greenery’s volume indicator [Y = –104.048 +
14.64X1 (tree height) – 18.73X2 (crown’s beginning height) + 3.48X3 (crown projection)], it is
observed that the mathematical signs can be interpreted in real terms. The volume indicator increases
with the increase in height and with the increase in crown projection and decreases with the increase
in crown’s beginning height because the crown length decreases. There is also a good adaptation of the
model to our data, because tree variables were especially correlated with the tree volume indicator,
explaining 93.5% of the model variance. Thus, this model may help in the estimation of the greenery
volume in urban ecosystems.
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A. Matsoukis et al., Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009) 356–362
AIR TEMPERATURE AND THERMAL COMFORT CONDITIONS

IN MOUNTAINOUS AND URBAN REGIONS
A. MATSOUKIS, A. KAMOUTSIS & A. CHRONOPOULOU-SERELI
Department of General Sciences, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece
ABSTRACT
The present study explored air temperature and thermal comfort conditions in mountainous region of Nafpaktia
(Municipality of Apodotia, Prefecture of Aitoloakarnania), a region without important commercial, industrial
or other activities in west continental Greece, and in Athens, a metropolitan urban center in southeast conti-
nental Greece. There were 11 study sites in the case of Nafpaktia (676–1455 m altitude), areas with different
altitude, ground cover, plant species and plant density. There was one study site in Athens (30 m altitude)
nearby a densely built area, under the pressure of industrial activities and heavy traffic. Air temperature and
humidity, 1.5 m above ground surface, were monitored simultaneously every 15 min in each site for the period
between 1 July and 31 August 2006. Air temperature and relative humidity data were used for the calculation
of the thermohygrometric index (THI) from which thermal comfort conditions were evaluated. For this work,
two sites of mountainous Nafpaktia region (MNR), one characterized by the lower (fir and chestnut forest area)
and the other by the higher (Evinos River area) average THI value, are presented. Results showed that MNR
provided clearly improved air temperature and thermal comfort conditions in comparison to Athens in the study
period. Fir and chestnut forest area was more beneficial, from a bioclimatological point of view, compared to
Evinos River area. Therefore, fir and chestnut forest area should be further supported as a reliable alternative
tourist destination for rest and recreation.
Keywords: Athens, mountainous Nafpaktia, temperature, thermohygrometric index.
1 INTRODUCTION
Human activities are directly influenced by air temperature near the ground. Its increase above a
limit may deteriorate thermal comfort conditions in the warm season of the year. Thermal comfort is
defined as the condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment, absence
of thermal discomfort or conditions in which 80% or 90% of humans do not express dissatisfaction
[1]. Human thermal comfort or discomfort conditions may be determined by a large number of
theoretical and empirical indices requesting a larger or smaller number of various parameters [2]
such as air temperature, radiation, humidity, clothing, etc. One easily applied index, requiring only
air temperature and relative humidity, is the thermohygrometric index (THI) which has been used in
urban, rural and urban forest areas. According to THI, the optimum comfort occurs between 15.0°C
and 19.9°C [3].
Urbanization is a common phenomenon in many cities all around the world with a remarkable
impact on local climate, attributed merely to construction, industry, traffic and air pollution [2].
Climate modification through urbanization influenced negatively public health in summer [4].
Mountainous forest regions, in general, appear to be more suitable for residents and tourists, con-
trary to urban areas. The benefits of mountainous forests, from a biometeorological point of view,
can be attributed both to their natural environment [5] and to the presence of relatively less human
activities. Plants through transpiration release water vapor to the surroundings, increasing humidity
[6] and decreasing temperature [7]. Therefore, mountainous forest regions are characterized by more
favorable environmental conditions compared to urban regions in the warm months of the year.
Mountainous Nafpaktia is an almost unexploited region with physical beauties such as evergreen
forests which may attract people for summer vacations. The only study on the bioclimatological
condition of region using THI has been reported by Matsoukis et al. [5]. The aim of this work is to

DOI: 10.2495/SDP-V4-N4-356-362
357 A. Matsoukis et al., Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009)
evaluate air temperature and thermal comfort conditions in the mountainous Nafpaktia region (MNR)
by comparing it to an urban center (Athens) using THI in the warm season of the year.
2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

Research for air temperature and thermal comfort conditions was carried out at two regions. The first
one was Athens (capital of Greece), a highly populated urban region in southeast continental Greece.
The study site, s1 (37°59′N, 23°42′E), in Athens was located at 30 m altitude. Nearby area is densely
built and is under the pressure of industrial activities and heavy traffic, thus it is a case study of an
urban center. Contrary to the first region, the second one is located on a wide part of mountainous
Nafpaktia (Fig. 1) districts (Municipality of Apodotia, Prefecture of Aitoloakarnania) in west conti-
nental Greece. In this region, unimportant commercial, industrial or other human activities are
performed. Its physical beauties, mainly due to fir (Abies sp.) forests, diverse relief and Evinos River
indicate noticeable tourist potential. Eleven study sites in MNR were selected (676–1455 m altitude).
Selection was mainly based on different altitude, ground cover, plant species and plant density.
Air temperature and humidity, 1.5 m above ground surface, were monitored simultaneously every
15 min by sensors with data loggers (Hobo type Pro, H-032-08, accuracy ±0.2°C at 25°C and ±3%
relative humidity over 0–50°C), one for each site in MNR, for the period between 1 July and
31 August 2006. The data loggers were enclosed in appropriate shelters screened from rainfall and
direct solar radiation. The form of the shelters allowed acceptable air ventilation. In case of Athens,
air temperature and humidity data, during the same period, were provided by the automatic
meteorological station of Agricultural University of Athens (Delta-T Devices Ltd, UK).
The mean values of average, maximum and minimum temperatures in Athens were 28.0°C,
33.3°C and 22.0°C, respectively (meteorological station of Agricultural University, Athens), during
the period of hottest months (July–August) from 1991 to 2006. The respective values of the previous
parameters were 24.7°C, 31.0°C and 16.4°C from the nearby meteorological station (Lidoriki,
38°31′N, 22°08′E, altitude 600.0 m) to MNR (distance 25.0 Km), for the same period from 1975
to 1995. The mean values of average and extreme temperatures were higher in Athens compared
to Lidoriki.
For air temperature and relative humidity data, means on hourly basis were calculated for each
study site. These means were used for the calculation of the average and hourly values of THI, a
Figure 1: Mountainous Nafpaktia region (with black color inside the circle).
A. Matsoukis et al., Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009) 358
widely used biometeorological index [3], for the whole experimental period. THI value was used for
the evaluation of human thermal comfort category according to Unger [2]. Five categories of thermal
comfort (very hot, hot, comfortable, cool and cold) were detected. Also, the relative frequencies of
different categories of the index mentioned above were calculated on hourly basis for the examined
period. Of all the sites, studied in Nafpaktia, only two sites of MNR, the first of which was character-
ized by the higher and the second by the lower average THI values, are presented for this work. The
first site, s2 (38°43′N, 21°57′E), was located at 676 m altitude, by the Evinos River, among various
riverside plant species and the second, s3 (38°43′N, 22°01′E), was located at 986 m altitude, inside
a forest with firs and chestnut trees (Castanea sp.). Analysis was performed using MS Excel and
SPSS v.11.0 statistical program.
3 RESULTS
The mean values of average and extreme (maximum, minimum) temperatures at s1 site in Athens
and at other two sites (s2, s3) in MNR are shown in Fig. 2. Average and extreme temperatures were
higher in Athens compared to MNR. More specifically, the average temperature decreased by 7.0°C
and 8.3°C in the sites s2 (elevation difference from Athens 646.0 m) and s3 (elevation difference
from Athens 956.0 m), respectively, compared to Athens. Fir and chestnut forest area (s3) was cooler
by 1.3°C compared to Evinos River area (s2).
The mean maximum temperature was lower by 2.9°C and 6.0°C at the sites s2 and s3, respec-
tively, compared to s1 site during the examined period. The decrease of minimum temperature in the
Evinos River area (s2) compared to Athens (s1) was higher than the respective decrease in the fir and
chestnut forest area (s3). Minimum temperature in the fir and chestnut forest area was higher by
1.7°C compared to Evinos River area.
Table 1 shows the calculated average and extreme THI values according to hourly means of air
temperature and relative humidity data for the whole experimental period. It can be seen that average
40 MaxT AvgT MinT
35
30
Temperature (ºC)
25
20
15
10
0
s1 s2 s3
site
Figure 2: Air temperature conditions in the urban region of Athens (s1), in the Evinos River area (s2)
and in the fir and chestnut forest area (s3) of MNR during the period July–August 2006.
MaxT, maximum air temperature; AvgT, average air temperature; MinT, minimum
air temperature.
Table 1: Average, maximum and minimum THI values of the study sites.
Sites Average THI (°C) Maximum THI (°C) Minimum THI (°C)
Athens 23.87 29.78 17.42
Evinos River area 19.12 28.51 9.79
Fir and chestnut forest area 18.42 26.39 10.88
THI category is ‘hot’ in the urban region of Athens (s1), while those of both presented sites (s2 and
s3) in Nafpaktia are ‘comfortable’. In terms of maximum THI values, Athens (s1) and Evinos River
area (s2) are in ‘very hot’ category, while the fir and chestnut forest area (s3) is in ‘hot’ category.
With regard to minimum THI values, s2 and s3 sites are in the ‘cold’ category, while Athens is in
‘comfortable’ category [2].
Thermal comfort conditions as expressed by the relative frequencies of different categories of THI
values in each hour for the examined period at the two sites (s2, s3) of MNR and in Athens (s1) are
presented in Fig. 3. Three THI categories in Athens (very hot, hot and comfortable) and five catego-
ries (very hot, hot, comfortable, cool and cold) in MNR were detected. Relative frequencies were
analyzed in average terms. More specifically, from 09:00 to 20:00, 24.6% of the THI values were in
the ‘very hot’ category and the rest (75.4%) were in the ‘hot’ category in Athens (Fig. 3a).
For the same period, it was found that the majority of THI values (78.0%) were in the ‘hot’ category,
while 18.5% and 2.7% were in the ‘comfortable’ and ‘very hot’ categories, respectively, in the Evinos
River area (Fig. 3b). In the fir and chestnut forest area (s3), 55.9% of the THI values were in the ‘hot
category’ (Fig. 3c) and a considerable percentage (40.1%) was in the ‘comfortable’ category. A very
small percentage of the THI values were in the ‘cool’ (2.8%) and ‘cold’ (1.2%) categories (Fig. 3c).
At night and morning hours (from 21:00 to 08:00), the majority (92.7%) and a small percentage
(7.0%) of THI values were in the ‘hot’ and ‘comfortable’ categories, respectively, in Athens (Fig.
3a). In the Evinos River (s2) and the fir and chestnut forest (s3) areas, 53.9% and 67.5% of THI
values were in the ‘comfortable’ category during the above period, respectively (Fig. 3b and c). In
addition, in the Evinos River area, a considerably large percentage of THI values were in the ‘cool’
and ‘cold’ categories (28.4% and 10.6%, respectively). In the case of fir and chestnut forest area
(Fig. 3c), it was seen that THI values were in the ‘cool’ and ‘cold’ categories with 19.6% and 5.4%,
respectively, from 21:00 to 8:00. Additionally, it was found that 7.5% of THI values were in the ‘hot’
category in the fir and chestnut forest area. It is noticeable that there was an absence of the ‘very hot’
category in fir and chestnut forest area during the whole examined period (Fig. 3c).
4 DISCUSSION
From the results of the study, it can clearly be seen that the mountainous region of Nafpaktia is
bioclimatologically more advantageous than Athens when both air temperature and thermal comfort
conditions for the whole examined period were considered. This may be attributed to lower average
and extreme temperatures combining with the most frequent occurrence of ‘comfortable’ category
in MNR compared to Athens. Although Athens (s1) is too away from MNR (s2 and s3) and this
distance may be effective on the differences in temperature and thermal comfort conditions, this
study is important for, at least, it can give an idea about the thermal comfort condition alterations in
mountainous and urban areas. The temperature and thermal comfort differentiation, in general,
between MNR and Athens could be explained merely by the altitude, the presence of vegetation and
the water surface in MNR in a higher degree, compared to Athens. Because of the most frequent
occurrence of ‘hot’ category in Athens, attributed mainly to urbanization [5], people must defend
cold cool comfortable Hot Very Hot

(a) 100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
(b) 100%
90%
80%
Relative Frequencies of THI
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
(c) 100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
LST
Figure 3: Relative frequencies of different categories of THI values on hourly basis in Athens (a), the
Evinos River area (b) and the fir and chestnut forest area (c) of MNR during the period of
July–August 2006 (local standard time (LST) = Greenwich Meridian Time + 2 h).
themselves against heat stress in the examined period. MNR provides an additional advantage
against heat stress because of the ‘shading effect of the trees’ [3], especially in the fir and chestnut
forest area, and because of the high altitude.
In the mountains, the plant density and height in combination with topography parameters, such
as the altitude and the aspect, determine the mosaic of topoclimates and microclimates of different
areas [8]. The fir and chestnut forest area was more beneficial due to the more frequent percentage
of THI values in ‘comfortable’ category compared to Evinos River area. The density of vegetation
was lower in previous area, that is to say ‘open area’ in many sites, compared to fir and chestnut for-
est area. The lower average and maximum temperature in fir and chestnut forest area compared to
Evinos River area could be explained by the fact that solar radiation and temperature (at least on
sunny days) are lower in forest compared to open sites, near the ground [9].
The lower minimum temperature and the greater percentage of THI values in ‘cool’ and ‘cold’
categories at the Evinos River area, compared to fir and chestnut forest area during night and morn-
ing hours (21:00–08:00), could be attributed to the movement of cold air, formed by nocturnal
radiative cooling under calm clear sky conditions [8, 10], from elevated areas towards the lower
altitudes. Evinos River area, as already mentioned, is at lower altitude compared to fir and chestnut
forest area (elevation difference 310.0 m).
In MNR, bioclimatologically, the more advantageous area is fir and chestnut forest area, for that
reason this area could be introduced as a reliable alternative tourist destination, by preserving the
natural vegetation and the traditional character of the region.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTs
This research is a part of the project co-funded by European Social Fund & National Resources –
Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training (EPEAEK II),
‘Environment-Pythagoras II-Funding of Research Groups in Agricultural University of Athens’.
References
[1] Yilmaz, S., Toy, S. & Yilmaz, H., Human thermal comfort over three different land surfaces
during summer in the city of Erzurum, Turkey. Atmósfera, 20(3), pp. 289–297, 2007.
[2] Unger, J., Comparisons of urban and rural bioclimatological conditions in the case of a
Central-European city. International Journal of Biometeorology, 43, pp. 139–144, 1999.
[3] Toy, S., Yilmaz, S. & Yilmaz, H., Determination of bioclimatic comfort in three different land
uses in the city of Erzurum, Turkey. Building and Environment, 42, pp. 1315–1318, 2007.
[4] Clarke, J.F. & Bach, W., Comparison of the comfort conditions in different urban and suburban
microenvironments. International Journal of Biometeorology, 15, pp. 41–54, 1971.
[5] Matsoukis, A., Kamoutsis, A., Charalampopoulos, I., Panagiotou, I. & Chronopoulou-Sereli,
A., Evaluation of biometeorological conditions of mountain communities and urban center in
Greece. Proc. of Secotox Conf. and the Int. Conf. on Environmental Management, Engineer-
ing, Planning and Economics, eds A. Kungolos, K. Aravossis, A. Karagiannidis & P. Samaras,
Grafima Publications: Skiathos, pp. 1526–1530, 2007.
[6] Jones, H.G., Plants and microclimate: A quantitative approach to environmental plant physiology,
2nd edn, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, London and New York, pp. 120–124, 1992.
[7] Gates, D.M., Plant temperatures and energy budget (Chapter I). Temperature and life,
eds H. Precht, J. Christophersen, H. Hensel & W. Larcher, Springer-Verlag: Berlin, Heidelberg
and New York, pp. 87–101, 1973.
[8] Barry, L.G., Mountain Weather and Climate, 2nd edn, Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group:
New York, pp. 18–189, 2001.
[9] Morecroft, M.D., Taylor, M.E. & Oliver, H.R., Air and soil microclimates of deciduous woodland
compared to an open site. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 90, pp. 141–156, 1998.
[10] Oke, T.R., Boundary Layer Climates, 2nd edn, Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group: New York,
pp. 176–181, 1999.
Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009) 363
Sustainable Development 2009

OVERVIEW
The fourth International Conference on Sustainable Development and Planning took place recently
in Cyprus organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology, the University of Cyprus and the University
of Thessaly in Greece. The conference builds upon the series of meetings that began in 2003 in
Skiathos, Greece and evolved into conferences in Bologna, Italy (2005) and the Algarve, Portugal
(2007).
Cyprus is a relatively recently EU ascended country facing many challenges and opportunities for
sustainable development and planning as a Mediterranean island, with associated peculiarities in
climate and environment as well as on the development and planning levels.
Sustainable Development Planning IV brought together researchers and other stakeholders from
across the globe to discuss the latest scientific advances in our understanding of sustainable
development, as well as to seek and highlight developments in managerial strategies and assessment
tools for policy and decision makers on the planning level.
OPENING CEREMONY
The Conference was chaired by Professor Carlos A. Brebbia from the Wessex Institute of Technology,
UK,Professor Marina Neophytou and Professor Ioannis Ioannou, from the University of Cyprus,
and Professor Elias Beriatos from the University of Thessaly in Greece. Mr Charalambos
Theopemptou, Commissioner for the Environment of Cyprus, added prestige to the meeting by
participating in the opening ceremony.
Professor Brebbia opened the meeting by explaining the importance of this conference within the
knowledge dissemination programme of the Wessex Institute of Technology (WIT), whose main
function is to act as a bridge between academia, industry and society as a whole. WIT achieves this
by participating in a substantial number of research programmes held in association with major
institutions around the world. These programmes,
which are supported by organisations as varied as
Research Councils, the EU, NATO and different
foundations, bring many partners together. Within
this scheme, WIT participates as a provider of
expertise in computer modelling; including those
based on the Boundary Element Method (BEM).
The technique, which was developed at WIT over
the last quarter of a century, has contributed to the
international reputation of the Institute and is now
widely accepted by industry.
Professor Brebbia also pointed out the continuous
evolution of the WIT Press publications, the
publishers of the conference book. Now not only
364 Int. J. Sus. Dev. Plann. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009)
are these books produced and distributed in hard cover format all over the world but they are also
offered as eBooks through a series of major distributors. As usual, all papers are also permanently
stored in the WIT eLibrary (http://library.witpress.com) where they are permanently available to the
international community. This gives WIT Press books, including the proceedings of Sustainable
Development and Planning IV the widest possible diffusion.
Professor Elias Beriatos, from the University of Thessaly, and now also an MP at the National
Parliament in Athens, spoke about the collaboration of his University with this series of WIT
conferences. Professor Elias Beriatos was instrumental in the setting up of the Department of
Development and Planning at the University of Thessaly. A highlight of these links between WIT
and the University of Thessaly was the ceremony to award the Prigogine Medal to Professor Ioannis
Antoniou from the University of Thessaly. The Prigogine Medal was established in 2004 by the
University of Siena and the Wessex Institute of Technology to honour the memory of Ilya Prigogine,
Nobel Prize Winner for Chemistry. Prigogine’s idea established the basis for ecological systems
research. The Prigogine Medal to honour his memory is awarded annually to a leading scientist in
the field of ecological systems. Ioannis Antoniou is Professor of Analysis and Statistics and Head of
the School of Mathematics at the Aristotle University of Thessaly in Greece. Professor Antoniou’s
work was carried out at the International Solvay Institute of Physics and Chemistry from 1982 until
the passing away of Ilya Prigogine in 2003. Inspired by the work of Prigogine, Professor Antoniou
is now involved in the statistical analysis of complex networks related to biomedical problems and
the internet, as well as in mathematical problems of complexity. The island of Skiathos, where the
ceremony took place, is located very near the site of the University of Thessaly in Volos.
Professor Marina Neophytou and Professor Ioannis Ioannou described the facilities at the University
and how this institution has developed since its creation 20 or so years ago. They also welcomed the
delegates to the conference in the name of their institutions.
Professor Brebbia then introduced Mr Charalambos Theopemptou, the Commissioner (or Minister)
for the Environment in Cyprus. Mr Theopemptou, who is an Electronics Engineer by training, answers
directly to the President. During his address, he spoke as follows:
“Water stress, waste management, energy, lack of transport and the impact of tourism on this island
formulate the biggest environmental issues that we face.
“Sustainability and planning require knowledge and care from people in the decision making process
and the directions and restraints that only legislation can impose. During the preparatory years
leading to EU accession, a great number of EU directive based laws and regulations went through
parliament, out of which approximately 60% were environment related.
“One of these is the Environmental Impact Assessment Law on either strategies or particular projects.
This was seen by the environmental groups as an important sustainability tool. Unfortunately, the
EU Directive is not tight enough and has a number of loopholes for those that seek to find them.
Three big issues are:
• The minimum content and structure of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study
• Who and with what expertise can actually take part in a study
• And whether the conclusions and recommendations of the study are implemented once
the permit is issued
“As a result of these shortcomings, the EIAs done up to now leave a lot to be desired, and I think that
they were of a low standard. The advantage now is that we know what is wrong and how to fix it.
“The main difficulties lie with other more important and unsolvable problems. A lot of these problems
have their roots in the political past of the island.
Strong central government control
“This sometimes makes it very difficult to implement EU directives, with the main issue being the
tight grip that central government has on:
• All forms of public transport Routes, fares and even bus stop placement are centrally
controlled. There is now an effort for the various municipalities to take on some of this
control but I feel that perhaps now it is too late.
• Control over town planning and zoning The way the city expands, is that once an area is
zoned as residential area, the land owners will design and build the streets and once this is
approved the building process begins. In a process like this, government has no control
on issues like where a school will be built, which areas will be commercial and which
purely residential. Decisions are taken later on as the need arises. It might be easy to find
a place to build a school but it is impossible to plan for a part in the city.
• Budget on road design and construction Government has control over major roads which
are often upgraded to serve areas. Upgrading two lane roads to four lanes is not an easy
task within a city and usually green spaces are the first to go.
• Municipal waste This is collected by the local authorities but the budget for reception
facilities and landfills is controlled by government. There is no legal obligation for citizens
to recycle and hopefully this will soon change.
• Energy matters These are again centrally regulated.
Municipalities
“Municipal councils usually take decisions based on what they see as short term benefits and it’s
often that one can sense the absence of the necessary training on sustainability and other environmental
issues.
“A good example of this is the decision to place all the operations of the new Technical University in
the heart of the city of Limassol.
“With a final target of around 7000 students, no public transport, no parking spaces, no suitable
buildings, no student accommodation and a lot of other problems coming, the decision was taken
without a public consultation process and without preparing an EIA. The University is now making
a huge and costly effort to set up its facilities that will of course be spread within the city.
“The whole of the Mediterranean region is poised to suffer most from climate change with higher
temperatures and lower rainfall being the main concerns. The change is already visible throughout
the island.
“The water issue is a classic case of non sustainable design and use. We run out of water because:
• The public never understood how serious the situation was as there were no campaigns to
save water.
• We allocated water for agricultural use on a political criterion rather than with common
sense.
• We don’t manage properly the water that we have. We have leaky pipes, no building
regulations with regard to water and there are estimated to be around 300,000 illegal
boreholes that have caused serious damage to the aquifer.
“On a brighter note, the general public is now more aware of the environmental problems we are
facing and they are ready for and sometimes demand, stricter environmental controls. Within
government the attitude is very slowly changing and employees find it progressively easier to stray
from political control.”
Professor Brebbia thanked Mr Theopemptou for his interesting and informative talk and declared the
conference open.
CONFERENCE SESSIONS
The conference comprised the following series of sessions:

• City planning
• Regional planning
• Social and political issues
• Rural development
• Cultural heritage
• Transportation
• Safety of users in road evacuation
• Ecosystems analysis, protection and
remediation
• Environmental management
• Environmental impact assessment
• Indicators of sustainability
• Sustainable solutions in developing
countries
• Sustainable tourism
• Waste management
• Flood-risk management
• Resource management
SPECIAL SESSION: SUSTAINABILITY AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN CYPRUS
A special session was organised on Sustainability and the Built Environment for the specific case of
Cyprus. It consisted of five papers selected by the local organisers, Marina Neophytou and Ioannis
Ioannou:
• “ADOBE: an environmentally friendly construction material”
• “Use of crushed fire clay ceramics in the production of mortars”
• “Towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly concretes: the use of silica fume”
• “Ventilation characteristics of the built environment and their effects on the urban
microclimate”
• “Classification of buildings in Cyprus based on their energy performance”
KEYNOTE ADDRESSES
The following keynote addresses were delivered during the conference:

• “Towards sustainable spa tourism activities in Greece” by E. Beriatos, University of
Thessaly, Greece
• “Sustainability regulations in urban planning: the experience of the autonomous community
of Valencia (Spain)” by J.L. Miralles I Garcia, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia,
Spain
SPECIAL SESSION: SAFETY OF USERS IN ROAD EVACUATION
Another important session was organised by Professor Francesco Russo of the University of Reggio
Calabria on the topic of “Safety of Users in Road Evacuation: Modelling and DSS”. It consisted of
the following papers:
• “Safety of users in road evacuation: modelling and DSS for LFA in the planning process”
• “Safety of users in road evacuation: modelling and DSS for demand”
• “Safety of users in road evacuation: modelling and DSS for transport supply and supply–
demand interaction”
• “Safety of users in road evacuation: modelling and DSS for paths design of emergency
vehicles”
• “Safety of users in road evacuation: modelling and DSS for pedestrian outflow”
CONFERENCE DINNER AND VISITS
The conference provided ample opportunities for interaction between the delegates during the coffee
breaks and social functions. The participants were offered complimentary lunches in order to increase
their contact.
The Conference Dinner took place in a typical taverna in the old city of Limassol. The restaurant is
located in a nicely renovated ancient building. The excellent cuisine and good local wines contributed
to the success of the social occasion.
The University of Cyprus’ folkloric
dance group played typical pieces.
A few delegates were brave enough
to attempt dancing under the tuition
of the Cypriot and Greek
participants. It was a very friendly
occasion to strengthen contacts and
get to know each other better.
The conference ended with a tour
organised by the University of
Cyprus and open to all participants.
The trip included the Archaeological
site of Kourion, an important city
kingdom in antiquity and one of the
most impressive in Cyprus. They also saw the magnificent Greco-Roman theatre and the “House of
Evstolios”, a complex of rooms and baths with beautiful 5th Century A.D. Mosaic Floors. Another
interesting sight was the Sanctuary of Apolon Ylatis, an important religious centre from the 8th
Century B.C.
The tour continued to Omodos, one of the most picturesque in Cyprus – a wine producing village in
the Trodus hills with narrow cobbled streets and the Monastery of the Holy Cross in the centre of the
village. There the participants had the opportunity to taste local wines and the traditional
“Commandaria”, a sweet red wine for which the island is renowned.
NEXT CONFERENCE
The success of the conference has ensured that the meeting will be reconvened in 2011, the date and
location to be decided shortly.
PUBLICATION OF PAPERS
The proceedings of Sustainable Development and Planning IV – Vol 1 and 2, 544pp and 560pp (Print
ISBNs: 978-1-84564-424-6 and 978-1-84564-422-1; Online ISBNs 978-1-84564-425-3 and 978-1-
84564-423-9; Print ISSN 1746-448X) are available from WIT Press priced at £207/US$372/€269
and £213/$383/€ 277, respectively. (Details for the set: Print ISBN 978-1-84564-181-8, Online ISBNs
978-1-84564-358-4, £395/$711/€514) Orders can be placed by telephone: +44 (0) 238 029 3223,
fax: +44 (0) 238 029 2853, e-mail: marketing@witpress.com or via the WIT Press web site at
www.witpress.com.
Papers from the conference will also be hosted online in the WIT eLibrary as Volume 120 of WIT
Transactions on Ecology and the Environment (ISSN: 1743-3541). For more details visit the WIT
eLibrary at http://library.witpress.com.
Urban Transport 2009

OVERVIEW & OPENING ADDRESS
The 15th International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment was recently held in
Bologna, organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology, represented by Professor Carlos Brebbia,
Director of WIT and Chairman of the meeting.
The continuous success of this annual event reflects the importance of the topic which attracts
international delegates from many different countries. The development of more efficient and
environmentally friendly transportation systems is essential in the quest for city sustainability. The
complexity of the problem, which involves a series of socio-economic as well as technical issues,
requires a substantial amount of research. New ideas need to be thoroughly tested and critically
evaluated before they can be implemented in practice, which highlights the importance of the Urban
Transport Conference.
The Conferences started in Southampton in 1995, continuing in Barcelona (1996); Acquasparta,
Italy (1997); Lisbon (1998); Rhodes (1999); Cambridge, UK (2000); Lemnos, Greece (2001); Seville
(2002); Crete (2003); Dresden (2004); Algarve (2005); WIT Campus in the New Forest (2006);
Coimbra (2007) and Malta (2008). The importance of these meetings is reflected in the papers
published in the corresponding volumes of the Transactions of Wessex Institute, which are archived
in our eLibrary at library.witpress.com, where they are permanently and easily accessible to the
international community.
Professor Carlos Brebbia explained during his opening remarks that this policy of producing digital
material has been extended to cover distribution of the whole conference book as well as other
publications. WIT Press has now set up a network of eDistribution that covers the whole world to
respond to this demand, which is expected to substantially increase the dissemination of WIT papers
within the international scientific and technical community.
Carlos also referred to the Journals controlled by WIT and in particular to the one on Sustainable
Development and Planning which welcomes new papers in the field of transportation. The policy of
the Institute’s publishing arm is to increase the number of their Journals in a harmonised manner,
trying to cover new fields and those related to WIT conferences.
Finally, Carlos discussed the type of work carried out by WIT from its New Forest Campus and the
aim of the Institute to provide a mechanism for the transfer of knowledge among many different
disciplines.
CONFERENCE SESSIONS
The Conference covered the following topics:
• Urban transport, planning and management

• Transportation demand analysis
• Intelligent transport systems

• Land use and transport integration
• Air and noise pollution
• Environmental and ecological aspects
• Traffic integration and control
• Transport modelling and simulation
• Safety and security
• Public transport systems
KEYNOTE ADDRESSES
At the beginning of the Conference, Dr Alessandro Zanasi,

an expert on security, gave a talk on “Urban Transport
Security, the European Commission Funding Programmes”.
Alessandro has worked extensively in Data Mining and is
author of a well known book on Text Mining (Text Mining
and its Applications to Intelligence, CRM and Knowledge
Management WIT Press, 2005, ISBN: 978-1-85312-995-7).
He is currently teaching at Bologna University and is
working as an Advisor for governments in Europe and the
Middle East. He is a member of ESRIF (European Security
Research and Innovation Forum) headed by the former
Minister of Interior in Slovenia. The EU, Alessandro
explained, is interested in protecting the population and
ensuring that Europe remains competitive in the growing
security field. The programme includes protection of Urban
Transport to protect the critical infrastructure that can be
damaged, destroyed or disrupted either by terrorist action
or natural disasters. Currently the EU is preparing calls on
the topic of Urban Transport, with a specific programme on “Security of Mass (i.e. Urban)
Transportation”. This includes metros, trams, city buses, international routes and ‘neuralgic’ nodes,
intercity systems, IT and communications and all related infrastructure.
Alessandro also referred to his own EU project in the field of Transport Hub Intelligent Video System.
This project involves the analysis of video images to determine suspicious or strange behaviour. It
involves the development of smart video systems.
Other interesting keynote addresses were the following:
• “Visibility, perception and roundabout safety” by A. Pratelli, University of Pisa, Italy
• “Evaluation of polymer modified asphalts containing warm mix additives in rheology” by
S.W. Amirkhanian, Clemson University, USA
SOCIAL EVENTS
During the conference, the delegates had ample opportunity for interaction, not only during the
lively discussions, but also at coffee breaks and the lunches which were offered by the organisers.
The Conference dinner took place in a typical Trattoria renowned for the standards of its cuisine.
Bologna is known throughout the world for the excellence of its food and the delegates were able to
taste some of the local dishes. Participants were given a print of ancient Bologna as a souvenir at the
end of the meal.
At the end of the Conference, Carlos
announced the death of Tom Maze two
weeks earlier at the age of 57. Tom was
a researcher and Professor Civil
Engineering at Iowa State University,
Ames, USA. There he founded the
Centre for Transportation Research and
Education, of which he was the first
Director. His main fields of interest
were traffic control, road safety and
freight transport. Tom attended the
Urban Transport Conferences,
presenting the results of his research
work, and was to present a paper at this
Conference, which is included in the
book. Carlos asked for a minute’s
silence in memory of Tom.
NEXT CONFERENCE
The next conference in the series will take place from 5 to 7 May 2010 in Cyprus. For further
information, please contact Claire Shiell cshiell@wessex.ac.uk. (This e-mail address is being protected
from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it).
PUBLICATION OF PAPERS
The proceedings of Urban Transport XV: Urban Transport and the Environment, 672pp (Print ISBN:
978-1-84564-190-0; On-line ISBN: 978-1-84564-367-6; Print ISSN: 1746-4498) are available from
WIT Press priced at £255/US$459/€ 332. Orders can be placed by telephone: +44 (0) 238 029 3223,
fax: +44 (0) 238 029 2853, e-mail: marketing@witpress.com (This e-mail address is being protected
from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it) or via the WIT Press web site at
www.witpress.com.
Papers from the conference will also be hosted online at the WIT eLibrary as Volume 107 of WIT
Transactions on The Built Environment (On-line ISSN: 1743-3509). For more details visit the WIT
eLibrary at www.witpress.com.
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Sustainable Tourism IV The Sustainable City VI

Edited by: C.A. BREBBIA, Wessex Institute of
Technology, UK and F.D. PINEDA, Complutense Urban Regeneration and Sustainability
University, Spain Edited by: C.A. BREBBIA, Wessex Institute of
Tourism has become a major international industry, Technology, UK, S HERNANDEZ, University of La
Coruña, Spain and E. TIEZZI, University of Siena, Italy
with many countries all over the world relying on the
income it produces. Its economic advantages as a Urban areas produce a series of environmental
major source of finances and employment lead to its problems arising from the consumption of natural
active promotion by governments and other resources and the consequent generation of waste and
institutions independent of the consequences on the pollution. These problems contribute to the
environment, ecology and social structure of the development of social and economic imbalances. All
affected regions. these problems, that continue to grow in our society,
The demands of tourism can contribute to the require the development of new solutions. The
destruction of the natural and cultural environment Sustainable City 2010 follows five very successful
upon which it depends. The natural and cultural meetings held in Rio (2000); Segovia (2002); Siena
landscape’s capacity to accommodate the local and (2004); Tallinn (2006) and Skiathos (2008). The
worldwide effects of tourism, the typology thereof and Conferences attracted a substantial number of
its implications for the economy and society constitute contributions from participants from different
very important study objectives. The development of backgrounds and countries. The variety of
tourism can result in the degradation of natural backgrounds and experiences is one of the main
landscapes which paradoxically attract tourists to such reasons behind the success of the series.
areas. The papers are published under the following
Featured topics include: Tourism Strategies; topics: The Community and the City; Planning,
Tourism as a Tool of Development; Tourism Impact; Development and Management; Urban Strategies;
Tourism and Protected Areas; Rural Tourism; Sustainable Transportation and Transport Integration;
Community Involvement; IT and Tourism; Climate Urban-Rural Relationships; Public Safety; Cultural
Change and Tourism; Environmental Issues; Art, Heritage Issues; Environmental Management;
Architecture and Culture; Modelling; Emergent Architectural Issues; Landscape Planning and Design;
Strategies for Tourism Development; Landscape and Socio-Economic Issues, Poverty and Segregation;
Tourism; Tourism and Urban Planning. Intelligent Environments; Natural Resources; Waste
Management; Case Studies.
WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 139
ISBN: 978-1-84564-458-1 eISBN: 978-1-84564-459-8 WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol
Forthcoming / apx400pp / apx£152.00/US$274.00/€198.00 129
ISBN: 978-1-84564-432-1 eISBN: 978-1-84564-433-8
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How to Make Two-Lane

Rural Roads Safer
Urban Transport XVI
Scientific Background and Guide for Practical
Urban Transport and the Application
Environment in the 21st Century R. LAMM, A. BECK and T. RUSCHER, University of
Karlsruhe, Germany, T. MAILAENDER, Mailaender
Edited by: A PRATELLI, University of Pisa, Italy and Ingenieur Consult GmbH, Germany and S. CAFISO
C.A. BREBBIA, Wessex Institute of Technology, UK and G. LA CAVA, University of Catania, Italy
Transportation in cities with its related environmental In most countries two-lane rural roads make up about
and social concerns is a topic of the utmost importance 90 percent of rural networks and account for about 60
for urban authorities and central governments around percent or more of highway fatalities worldwide –
the world. Urban Transport systems require 500,000 people per year. Based on new research and
considerable studies to safeguard their operational use, the demands of many design professionals this book
maintenance and safety. They produce significant provides an understandable scientific framework for
environmental impacts and can enhance or degrade the application of quantitative safety evaluation
the quality of life in urban centres. The emphasis is to processes on two-lane rural roads.
seek transportation systems that minimize any The methodology described will support the
ecological and environmental impact, are sustainable achievement of quantified measures of 1) design
and help to improve the socio-economic fabric of the consistency, 2) operating speed consistency, and 3)
city. Another area of concern addressed by the driving dynamic consistency. All three criteria are
conference is that of public safety and security, seeking evaluated in three ranges described as “good”, “fair”
ways to protect passengers while retaining the and “poor”. It has been proved that the results of these
efficiency of the systems. criteria coincide with the actual accident situation
This International Conference on Urban Transport prevailing on two-lane rural roads. By using the
and the Environment has been successfully reconvened “good” ranges, sound alignments in plan and profile,
annually for the last fifteen years. The sixteenth matching the expected driving behaviour of motorists,
conference topics are: Transport Modelling and can be achieved.
Simulation; Transport Security and Safety; Transport The safety criteria are then combined into an
Technology; Land Use and Transport Integration; overall safety module for a simplified general
Intelligent Transport Systems; Public Transport overview of the safety evaluation process. The authors
Systems; Road Pricing; Inter-Model Transport also encourage the coordination of safety concerns
Systems; Transport Automation; Traffic Management; with important economic, environmental and aesthetic
Urban Transport Strategies; Urban Transport considerations.
Management; Environmental Impact, Including Air This book will be an invaluable aid to educators,
Pollution and Noise; Information Techniques and students, consultants, highway engineers and
Communications; Mobility Behaviour; Policy administrators, as well as scientists in the fields of
Frameworks; Environmentally Friendly Vehicles; highway design and traffic safety engineering.
Transport Sustainability; Safety of Users in Road
Evacuation. ISBN: 978-1-84564-156-6 eISBN: 978-1-84564-258-7
2006 / 144pp / £55.00/US$95.00/€79.00
WIT Transactions on The Built Environment, Vol 111
ISBN: 978-1-84564-456-7 eISBN: 978-1-84564-457-4
Forthcoming / apx700pp / apx£266.00/US$479.00/€346.00
All prices correct at time of going to press

but subject to change.
WESSEX INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY CONTACT:

The Conference Secretariat
Advancing International Knowledge Transfer
CONFERENCE INFORMATION 2010 Email:enquiries@wessex.ac.uk
Tel: 44 (0) 238 029 3223
www.wessex.ac.uk Fax: 44 (0) 238 029 2853
ECO-ARCHITECTURE 2010 FRIAR 2010 HEAT TRANSFER 2010

Third International Conference on Second International Conference on 11th International Conference on
Harmonisation between Flood Recovery, Innovation and Advanced Computational Methods
Architecture and Nature Response and Experimental Measurements in
12 – 14 April 2010, La Coruña, 26 – 28 May 2010, Milan, Italy Heat Transfer
Spain 14 – 16 July 2010, Tallinn, Estonia
SUSTAINABLE IRRIGATION 2010
THE SUSTAINABLE CITY 2010 Third International Conference on HPSM 2010
Sixth International Conference on Sustainable Irrigation Management, Fifth International Conference on
Urban Regeneration and Technologies and Policies High Performance Structures and
Sustainability 7 – 9 June 2010, Bucharest, Materials
14 – 16 April 2010, La Coruña, Romania 26 – 28 July 2010, Tallinn, Estonia
Spain
WATER POLLUTION 2010 SUSI 2010
ISLANDS 2010 Tenth International Conference on 11th International Conference on
First International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Structures under Shock and Impact
Island Sustainability Management of Water Pollution 28 – 30 July 2010, Tallinn, Estonia
19 – 21 April 2010, Braè, Croatia 9 – 11 June 2010, Bucharest,
COMPRAIL 2010
Romania
ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS 12th International Conference on
2010 AIR POLLUTION 2010 Computer System Design and
Third International Conference on 18th International Conference on Operation in the Railway and other
Environmental Economics and Modelling, Monitoring and Transit Systems
Investment Assessment Management of Air Pollution 31 Aug – 2 Sept 2010, Beijing,
3 – 5 May 2010, Cyprus 21 – 23 June 2010, Kos, Greece China
ENVIRONMENTAL FOREST FIRES 2010 BEM/MRM 32
TOXICOLOGY 2010 Second International Conference on 32nd International Conference on
Third International Conference on Forest Fires: Computer Modelling, Boundary Elements and Other
Environmental Toxicology Monitoring and Management Mesh Reduction Methods
4 – 6 May 2010, Cyprus 23 – 25 June 2010, Kos, Greece 7 – 9 September 2010, The New
Forest, UK
URBAN TRANSPORT 2010 DESIGN AND NATURE 2010
16th International Conference on Fifth International Conference on RISK ANALYSIS 2010
Urban Transport and the Comparing Design in Nature with Seventh International Conference
Environment Science and Engineering on Computer Simulation in Risk
5 – 7 May 2010, Cyprus 28 – 30 June 2010, Pisa, Italy Analysis and Hazard Mitigation
13 – 15 September 2010, Algarve,
TRIBOLOGY AND DESIGN 2010 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM 2010
Portugal
Third International Conference on Fourth International Conference on
Tribology and Design Sustainable Tourism BROWNFIELDS 2010
11 – 13 May 2010, Algarve, 5 – 7 July 2010, The New Forest, Fifth International Conference on
Portugal UK Prevention, Assessment,
Rehabilitation, Restoration and
DEBRIS FLOW 2010 WASTE MANAGEMENT 2010
Development of Brownfield Sites
Third International Conference on Fifth International Conference on
14 – 16 September 2010, Algarve,
Debris Flow including all aspects Waste Management and the
Portugal
of Debris Flow Monitoring, Environment
Modelling, Hazard Assessment, 12 – 14 July 2010, Tallinn, Estonia AFM 2010
Mitigation Measures, Extreme Eighth International Conference on
Events, Erosion, Slope Instability Advances in Fluid Mechanics
and Sediment Transport 15 – 17 September 2010, Algarve,
24 – 26 May 2010, Milan, Italy Portugal
376 Int. J. of Sustainable Development and Planning. Vol. 4, No. 4 (2009)
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International Journal of

Volume 4, Number 4, 2009

FREQUENCY AND FORMAT

If you are interested in submitting a paper please contact:

ISSN: 1743-761X (on line) and ISSN: 1743-7601 (paper format)

Preface to the Special Issue

Olga G. Christopoulou, Serafeim Th. Polyzos

URBAN WASTES AS SOURCES OF VALUABLE CHEMICALS

© 2009 WIT Press, www.witpress.com

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Peak 1a Peak 2 Peak 3

Motorized road transport: economic and

Faculty of Civil Engineering, School of Technology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Transport and Communications, Greece.

© 2009 WIT Press, www.witpress.com

• What is sustainable transport?

Table 1: The effects of sustainable transport and mobility.

• climate change and air pollution;

• fuel consumption, exhaustion of non-renewable resources;

Table 2: Main internal and external costs: a ‘user pays’ alternative.

4 Costs and Policy ASSESSMENT

• noise levels and population exposed to these levels in various distances;

Table 3: Transport externalities, costs and investments.

irritation cardiovascular nuisance, of activities noise barriers greater absorbance

Source: [2–4, 9].

• land use alterations;

• Regulatory and planning instruments aiming to set standards, restrictions, administrative

• systematic controls of emissions and noise levels; penalties in case of transgressions;

WATER PRICE ELASTICITY AND PUBLIC ACCEPTABILITY ON

© 2009 WIT Press, www.witpress.com

2 DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA

Figure 1: The four main sectors in the city of Volos.

3 INITIAL SURVEY RESULTS CONCERNING WATER ISSUES

3.1 Water pricing policy

3.2 Water conservation devices

3.3 Outdoor water use – construction of a dual water supply network

3.4 Control of leakages

3.5 Awareness and participation in water conservation programs

4 SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS IN WATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT INSTRUMENTS

4.1 Steps of the AHP

4.2 Total weights of water CMs

Table 2: Final weights of water CMs.

5 ELASTICITY OF WATER DEMAND

5.1 Water demand curve

ln(C) = −3.700(ln P)2 − 0.995(ln P) + 3.271. (5)

6 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

Urban structure and mobility in the context of

© 2009 WIT Press, www.witpress.com

2 THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

3 DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLUTION OF THE CITY OF THESSALONIKI: THE URBAN

4 THE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

4.1 Social–spatial characteristics of the sample

4.2 Urban mobility and representations for the city areas

4.3 Opinions on the submerged tunnel and its impact

Figure 2: Views on the impact of the TST.

4.4 Areas of residence, transportation means and the submerged tunnel

Western Suburbs 11,6% 60,5% 27,9%

Eastern Suburbs 35,1% 46,9% 18,0%

Western City Area 46,6% 26,7% 26,7%

Eastern City Area 20,6% 54,4% 25,0%

City Center 12,2% 63,4% 24,4%

Central city roads Ring road Submerged Tunnel