Green roofs are implemented to reduce the urban heat island effect; however, studies are limited to comparing the reduction in urban heat island effect before and after implementation, and the focus is on the structural stability of the building rather than urban heat island reduction. In this study, using the sky view factor (SVF) in ENVI-met, a 3D microclimate modeling program, urban spaces were classified as closed, semi-open, and open areas. Meanwhile, the green roof types were subdivided according to the vegetation coverage rates, which included grass, shrubs, and trees. The vegetation ratio was evaluated using ENVI-met to determine which of the 10 scenarios was most effective for each urban space. The thermal environment was most comfortable in semi-open areas. Therefore, the green roof scenario with 70% grass and 30% trees was effective in closed areas, 50% shrubs and 50% trees were best in semi-open areas, and 70% grass with 30% trees, or 30% grass and 70% trees, was best in open areas. This study provides a basis for creating green roof guidelines aimed at improving the urban thermal environment, as well as creating other green infrastructure elements in cities.

Advances in 3D printing technology are giving rise to attempts to utilize the technology in various fields, including landscape design. However, exploring the potential of 3D printing technology has been largely neglected in the context of landscape design and education. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the implication of 3D printing technology for both education and practice in landscape design. We analyzed the literature and examined the current state of 3D printing technology. We also conducted case studies with secondary school students and landscape practitioners to assess the implementation of the technology. Secondary school students demonstrated positive responses, such as increased interest and participation and improvement of understanding, through workshops using 3D-printed models. The semi-structured interviews with landscape practitioners on the implication of the technology confirmed the limitations of 3D printing in terms of cost, delivery time, scale, and level of detail.

It is imperative to develop a methodology to identify river impairment sources, particularly the relative impact of socioeconomic sources, to enhance the efficiency of various river restoration schemes and policies and to have an internal diagnosis system in place. This study, therefore, aims to identify and analyze the relative importance of the socioeconomic factors affecting river ecosystem impairment in South Korea. To achieve this goal, we applied the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate expert judgement of the relative importance of different socioeconomic factors influencing river ecosystem impairment. Based on a list of socioeconomic factors influencing stream health, an AHP questionnaire was prepared and administered to experts in aquatic ecology. Our analysis reveals that secondary industries form the most significant source of stream ecosystem impairment. Moreover, the most critical socioeconomic factors affecting stream impairment are direct inflow pollution, policy implementation, and industrial wastewater. The results also suggest that the AHP is a rapid and robust approach to assessing the relative importance of different socioeconomic factors that affect river ecosystem health. The results can be used to assist decision makers in focusing on actions to improve river ecosystem health.

Urban environmental issues such as declining air quality and increasing urban heat island effects can be managed by the effective use of urban green spaces. Consequently, the importance of green infrastructure (GI) has rapidly increased over time. While the various functions of GI have been investigated in numerous studies, limited research has focused on prioritizing those factors which impact the planning and development of GI. This study used literature reviews, expert surveys, and an analytic hierarchy process methodology to identify and prioritize the critical factors influencing GI during the design and construction process to enhance the role of GI in urban areas. Experts were asked to prioritize four primary (ecological, landscape, usability, and economic factors) and 16 secondary aspects of GI design. Respondents strongly agreed on the importance of the ecological aspects of GI, while the government sector also highlighted the importance of economic concerns, such as ongoing maintenance. Results indicated that the priorities for creating GI require further analysis and mediation between stakeholders. Further empirical evidence should be accumulated regarding the functions of GI for policy implementation in design and construction.

Urban heat island (UHI), a significant environmental issue caused by urbanization, is a pressing challenge in modern society. To mitigate it, urban thermal policies have been implemented globally. However, despite differences in topographical and environmental characteristics between cities and within the same city, these policies are largely uniform and fail to reflect contexts, creating notable drawbacks. This study analyzed three cities in Korea with high land surface temperatures (LSTs) to identify factors influencing LST by applying Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) with Shapley Additive explanations (SHAP) and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR). Each variable was derived by calculating the average values from May to September 2020. LST was the dependent variable, and the independent variables were chosen based on previous studies: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), ALBEDO, Population Density (POP_D), Digital Elevation Model (DEM), and SLOPE. XGBoost-SHAP was used to derive the relative importance of the variables, followed by GWR to assess spatial variation in effects. The results indicate that NDBI, reflecting building density, is the primary factor influencing the thermal environment in all three cities. However, the second most influential factor differed by city: SLOPE had a strong effect in Daegu, characterized by surrounding mountains; POP_D had greater influence in Incheon, where population distribution varies due to clustered islands; and DEM was more influential in Seoul, which contains a mix of plains, mountains, and river landscapes. Furthermore, while NDBI and ALBEDO consistently contributed to LST increases across all regions, the effects of the remaining variables were spatially heterogeneous. These findings highlight that urban areas are not homogeneous and that variations in land use, development patterns, and morphology significantly shape heat environments. Therefore, UHI mitigation strategies should prioritize improving urban form while incorporating localized planning tailored to each region’s physical and socio-environmental characteristics. The results can serve as a foundation for developing strategies and policy decisions to mitigate UHI effects.

Sustainable agriculture, including organic farming, offers a potential remedy for addressing environmental pollution. Accordingly, the importance of evaluating the environmental benefits of organic agriculture has become evident. Numerous studies have compared organic and conventional farming or focused on specific crops in environmental studies; however, there is a lack of research on indicators that evaluate the positive impact of organic agriculture on the overall agricultural environment. Therefore, this study aimed to develop comprehensive agri-environmental evaluation indicators by utilizing an analytic hierarchy process (AHP). These methods were employed to determine the importance of factors that evaluate the environmental performance of organic agriculture. This study utilized literature reviews, derived and organized indicators, and prioritized evaluation factors using expert surveys and AHP methods. Based on the analysis of experts, physical and ecological agricultural environments were the most crucial evaluation factors, including biological properties. In addition to the physical ecological agricultural environments, the AHP results demonstrated the need for evaluation indicators that evaluate the overall agricultural environment, including the residential ecological environment and village living and cultural environment. Further empirical studies are required for the derivation of additional valid indicators and policy implementation.