Climate-induced pressures spur on the need for urban green infrastructure (UGI) planning. This approach offers a possible way to improve ecosystem functionality and human well-being in adversely affected urban regions, wherein UGI is perceived as a green and nature-based climate change mitigation/adaptation strategy. In Pakistan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province lacks such urban landscape and greening policies (ULGP) or legislative frameworks for transitioning to green action plans (GAP), to alleviate the risk of multi-climatic hazards. Thus, this study aims to investigate a sustainable UGI-indicator-based framework model, based on the due inclusion of the concerned stakeholders. The relative importance index (RII) and inter-quartile range (IQR) techniques are employed for field data analysis. The findings proclaim excellent reliability (α > 0.7) and internal consistency, wherein sustainable UGI indicators are grouped based on their importance. The results portray the ecological and economic sustainability dimensions as being important (RII = 0.835 and RII = 0.807, respectively), socio-cultural dimensions as being moderately important (RII = 0.795), and a set of UGS elements (RII ≥ 0.77) as vital for bolstering individual UGI indicators. The main UGS elements emerging in each category can be grouped as follows: ecological category—“reducing rainwater runoff” (RII = 0.94); socio-cultural category—“enhancement of mental and physical health” (RII = 0.90); and eco category—“minimizing the risk of flood disasters” (RII = 0.96). The simulation results demonstrate the need for an inclusive perspective when building the urban green space (UGS) infrastructure (and standards) that will be most suitable for ensuring climate-resilient urban regions. This study contributes to putting the scientific research knowledge of the natural green-landscape-based (NBLB) approach into practice. The study calls for the establishment of an effective, pragmatic relationship between the urban landscape and greening policies, alongside a constructive relationship with the native inhabitants to ensure eco-friendly and resilient settlements.
Climate change caused by global warming, and the growing scarcity of nonrenewable energy sources, have driven Pakistan to shift from a traditional energy consumption pattern to a renewable-energy-use pattern. The per capita energy consumption in rural Pakistan is very low, especially in rural areas heavily relying on traditional energy sources. This paper presents the extent of biogas technology adoption by Pakistani rural households and the factors affecting their decision to adopt the technology in three selected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The data were collected by interviewing 480 respondents by using a pretested and designed questionnaire. The results show that the household adoption rate of biogas technologies is low. The factors affecting the adoption decision of households included household income, access to credit, cultivated land area, the number of cattle in the household, education, and family size. The study also found fundamental barriers to the household adoption of biogas technologies, such as a lack of proper technical services by implementing organizations and insufficient governmental support. The authors make recommendations based on the findings to increase the adoption rate of biogas technologies in rural Pakistan.
1 December 2020 in Energy Research & Social Science