A call to action: Improving urban green spaces to reduce health inequalities exacerbated by COVID-19

Carbon sinks in urban public green spaces under carbon neutrality: A bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review

IntroductionWith the rapid growth of urbanization globally and in the UK, increasing attention is now being directed towards urban green spaces (UGS). The appeal of UGS to policymakers lies in their capacity to address multiple policy objectives, including improving physical and mental wellbeing, mitigating noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), combating climate change through carbon sequestration, providing climate adaptation measures, and enhancing biodiversity.MethodThis narrative review gives an overview of the current literature and UK policy relating to urban green and blue spaces, with a particular focus on the use of UGS to increase physical activity levels.ResultsUGS have a profound impact on public health, with evidence indicating their positive effect on both physical and psychological health. Thirty‐eight percent of adults in the UK do not live within 15 minutes of UGS, so policy makers at national and international level are aiming to address this gap. One reason for the health benefits of UGS is associated increased physical activity, a vital component needed to address the burden of non‐communicable disease. To effectively harness UGS to promote physical activity various factors must be considered; proximity and diversity of urban green spaces, and the presence of suitable infrastructure features. Tailoring UGS to meet the needs and preferences of different population demographics is essential, as is ensuring safety, and addressing barriers to access particularly for lower socio‐economic groups. The careful planning of UGS must avoid potential gentrification effects and displacement of vulnerable communities, whilst utilising the equigenic nature of UGS.ConclusionsTo create a brighter future and capitalize on the potential of UGS, a collaborative approach is needed, involving communities, local governments, and national authorities. Primary‐care professionals, represented by organizations like the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), can play a crucial role in advocating for UGS and physical activity, promoting their use, and providing guidance and support.

Soundscape of urban public green space plays an important role in urban green space sightseeing experience, but it is not clear whether there are differences in soundscape diversity of different urban green space. This study investigated soundscape diversity of 30 urban green space samples, including urban park green space, roadside green space, square green space, campus green space and residential green space. The results showed that there are differences in soundscape diversity of urban different public green spaces. In campus green space, soundscape diversity and soundscape perceived affective quality are closely related, while in urban parks and roadside green space, soundscape diversity and soundscape perceived affective quality are not significantly related. The linear regression of soundscape diversity indices and overall quality evaluation of soundscape fit well in campus green space, square green space and residential green space. The R2 of these regression equations were 0.65, 0.74 and 0.63, respectively. This study provides potential ideas for the design and management of urban different public green spaces in the future.

کاربری فضای سبز یکی از کاربری های مهم خدماتی برای شهرهای امروزی محسوب می شود و یکی از مؤلفه های نیل به توسعه ی پایدار شهری است که به لحاظ اهمیت مسأله مورد توجه برنامه ریزان شهری است. در این نوشتار، چگونگی تخصیص بهینه ی کاربری فضای سبز عمومی شهری، که به عنوان یکی از مهمترین کاربری های خدماتی- رفاهی شهری مطرح و دارای اثرات متقابلی بین فضای سبز و دیگر کاربری های شهری نیز می‌باشد، پرداخته شده است. در این زمینه فاکتورهای‌ مطالعاتی فضای سبز، مانند: توصیف و پراکنش، سرانه‌ها، نسبت اشتغال این فضاها در سطح شهر و به دنبال آن فرایند توسعه و تحول فضای سبز در مقاطع زمانی84-1373 مورد بررسی قرار گرفته است. در بخش دیگر، استانداردهای فضای سبز از دیدگاههای گوناگون مورد بررسی و وضعیت شهر گلستان نسبت به آن سنجیده شده و میزان کمی و کیفی فضای سبز شهر گلستان از نظر معیارهای برنامه‌ریزی شهری مورد مطالعه قرار گرفته است. نتیجه ی یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد که فضای سبز موجود به طور متعادل در سطح شهر توزیع نشده است و پارک-های منطقه‌ای وناحیه‌ای درسطح شهر گلستان وجود ندارد. کلیدواژه‌ها: فضای سبز شهری، توسعه ی پایدار، سرانه ی فضای سبز، شهر گلستان.

Urban greenspace planning plays a crucial role in improving the quality of human settlements and the living standard of citizens. Urban public greenspace (UPGS) is an important part of urban greenspaces. Existing literature rarely includes a scientific evaluation of greenspace plans (including of UPGS) and plan implementation effects. To bridge this gap, this study evaluated and monitored the UPGS plan enacted in 2010 in Kunming, China. Object-based image classification and visual interpretation of satellite images and Google Earth imagery were used to quantify the different periods of UPGS implementation. Six indicators and monitoring at four classic sites were applied to explore the change at two scales (overall scale and district scale) for monitoring the UPGS plan execution. The results showed that UPGS structure greatly improved after plan implementation. However, UPGS provision per capita has not reached the level of greenspace planning and the connectivity was poor. Significant implementation inequalities existed in each district and implementation has lagged behind schedule. This study contributes to a better understanding of greenspace planning and urban planning in general, which can help improve future planning and planning decisions.

Many studies have argued that a better understanding of people’s preferences about public urban green spaces may inform urban planners to effectively provide and manage urban green spaces to meet users’ needs. The aim of this study is to examine urban residents preferred public green space characteristics and investigate whether similarities and differences can be highlighted in three different Portuguese cities. Through a web-based questionnaire based on the best-worst scaling (BWS) method, residents of Lisbon, Porto and Évora (n = 750) were asked to select the most and least important public green space characteristic among thirteen attributes. The results suggest a consensus about some green space characteristics across cities but also the existence of some local variations in city residents’ preferences. Overall, this study can support public authorities and urban planners as they strive to effectively design and manage urban green spaces to meet users’ needs.

Urban landscapes are capable of responsive urban development that optimises the quality of Urban Green Space (UGS) for advanced function as a matter of efficient and convenient knowledge management. As a theory for positive outcomes for urban landscapes substantiated by refined wilding, functional urban biodiversity can optimise the use of cross-disciplinary knowledge sets, leading to more efficient design and policy for UGS that accommodates human health and the natural-environment in urban landscapes. This optimisation is complementary to the smart cities concept, offering convenience, efficiency, and quality of life, and can ensure that sustainable urban development advances with smart cities. The smart cities concept has, over the last decades, developed to integrate sustainability and UGS. This article suggests and finds that refined wilding could provide conceptual guidance for smart cities, as a concept, component model, and planning process, and for smart city devices and technologies, with functional biodiversity as an aim and positive outcome for different UGS types, including residential gardens, which are at an individual level of initiative, responsibility, and choice, and public UGSs which are more likely to be top–down-designed and -implemented. Using a literature review and conceptually framed analysis, functional biodiversity in UGS is found to positively contribute to the smart cities concept by encouraging the efficient use of advanced knowledge sets from various disciplines for the topic of UGS. This article finds that refined wilding supports and furthers ideas like the importance of the quality of UGS as compared to the quantity, the advantages of high-quality and advanced-function UGS as compared to the disadvantages of less functional UGS, and how wild-refined UGS furthers or complements and supports more advanced ideas for UGS. The recommendations for future directions give further examples of advances in refined wilding for sustainable smart cities. The focus on the quality of UGS and advanced function brings refined wilding for functional biodiversity to smart cities with efficiency and convenience in urban development and sustainability terms.

Urban green space (UGS) provides multiple cultural ecosystem services (CES) and enhances people's physical and mental well-being. The importance of UGS was more critical during crisis periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, UGS has been under severe threats due to rapid urban expansion and climate change. Particularly, the cities in developing countries have experienced a dramatic loss of green spaces due to land use and land cover (LULC)change. This study aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CES perception obtained from two public UGS, i.e., SubhankarSishuUddyan (SSU) and Bandh Road (BR) in English Bazar Urban Agglomeration(EBUA), Eastern India. A survey was performed to assess the valuation of CES, CES obtained from UGS, and the use of CES difference during partial (unlock phases) and after lockdown periods. The non-parametric tests were carried out to understand the significant differences between CES and UGS perceived by the respondents. Explanatory factor analysis was also performed to find the association among CES for each UGS. The results reported substantial variations of UGS useduring partial and after lockdown periods. During the after-lockdown period, the UGS mainly were used for social relations (51%), spending time with relatives and friends (25%), spending time with children (11%) in SSU and walking (25%), spending time with relatives and friends (21%), and physical activities (17%) in BR. During the partial lockdown period, a significant difference between SSU and BR was recorded from social relations and health value among all CES. After the full lockdown period, a significant difference was observed in recreation, social relations, health, and aesthetic value. The frequency and duration of UGS use during partial lockdown periods substantially increased. About 12% of the total visitor visited UGS daily after the lockdown, whereas it was 4% during the partial lockdown. The study's findings will assist urban planners and policymakers in understanding the need for UGS to promote the well-being of the citizens.

Expression of Concern: How does a good environment affect firms’ productivity? evidence from urban public green spaces in China An expression of concern on Yang Y, Ji X, Deng L and Ma R (2023) How does a good environment affect firms’ productivity? evidence from urban public green spaces in China. Front. Energy Res. 10:1054699. doi: 10.3389/fenrg.2022.1054699With this notice, Frontiers states its awareness of concerns regarding the content of the article “How does a good environment affect firms’ productivity? evidence from urban public green spaces in China” published on 16th of January 2023. Our Research Integrity team will conduct an investigation in full accordance with our procedures. The situation will be updated as soon as the investigation is complete.

<sec><title>Objective</title> This research mainly aims to identify the primary interactions between the factors influencing the carbon sink capacity of urban park green spaces and recognize the most effective landscape design strategies, thereby providing a foundational data set for the further development of a repository of lifecycle design strategies for urban green spaces. In light of the increasingly prominent role of urban green spaces in mitigating climate change, the research also seeks to highlight strategies that balance ecological functions with urban recreational and aesthetic needs. </sec><sec><title>Method</title> This research employs the network Meta-analysis method to explore the critical factors influencing the carbon sequestration potential of urban park green spaces, and conduct a systematic quantitative assessment of their respective carbon sink capacity. The research categorizes and statistically analyzes various factors currently involved in relevant research that affect the carbon sink capacity of urban park green spaces, whose interactions and cumulative impacts are assessed using the network Meta-analysis method. The Meta-analysis incorporates network evidence plots, league tables, and SUCRA (surface under the cumulative ranking curves) to evaluate the ranking and relative importance of different factors. Additionally, heterogeneity, bias, and errors are examined through subgroup analyses based on park scale (a), functional characteristics (b), and climatic conditions (c), accompanied by the evaluation of publication bias using funnel plots. </sec><sec><title>Results</title> The analysis in this research involves 50 eligible literature articles published between 2000 and 2024, which are selected from a total of 952 articles initially collected. The research identifies 34 influencing factors, categorized into five distinct clusters: Design characteristics, habitat composition, planting strategies, maintenance methods, and external environment. The research results emphasize the multidimensionality of carbon sequestration in urban parks. Design characteristics and maintenance practices emerge as the most stable and broadly applicable factors. Their SUCRA values rank the highest, reflecting their consistent contribution to carbon sequestration across diverse settings. For instance, controlling the proportions of grasslands and pathways at 20% and 30%, respectively, and optimizing carbon storage while maintaining recreational value. Maintenance practices often act on other influencing factors to enhance carbon sink capacity, such as using native tree species, selecting natural materials, and designing low-maintenance sites to reduce the cost of maintenance. Habitat composition and planting strategies show significant influence under specific scenarios. Fast-growing tree species with large-canopy demonstrate strong initial carbon sink capacity, while subsequent maintenance, including pruning, is essential to sustain long-term benefits. Conversely, habitat composition reveals high heterogeneity, particularly influenced by tree density and vegetation diversity. Planting methods also hold significant importance in enhancing the carbon sequestration of urban parks, such as multi-layered vegetation structures that enhance carbon sink capacity but require careful adjustments to avoid excessive shading and competition, thereby achieving more efficient carbon sequestration. The influence of the external environment on carbon sink capacity is generally weaker but still requires attention in specific scenarios. The geographical location, climatic conditions, and soil types of different parks also lead to certain differences. Subgroup analysis by climate type shows that the research objects dominated by temperate climates show higher heterogeneity, presumably because the longitudinal differences of the research objects in temperate regions are large, and the differences in plant species and ecological environments lead to large differences in the measurement results of carbon sink capacity. </sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title> This research provides critical insights into the interplay of factors shaping the carbon sink potential of urban parks, emphasizing the importance of stable foundational strategies like design and maintenance. While habitat composition and planting strategies offer substantial localized benefits, their variability necessitates tailored interventions informed by specific ecological and social contexts. To advance urban carbon neutrality efforts, future research should integrate these findings into practical tools, such as enhanced modules in landscape performance platforms. These modules should allow for lifecycle assessments that account for design, construction, and maintenance phases, thus supporting real-time monitoring and optimization. Additionally, leveraging human-machine collaboration through intelligent workflows can further enhance decision-making by combining real-time data analysis with human expertise. Future research should expand the assessment system for the composite factors influencing the carbon sink capacity of urban park green space, so as to fill the data gaps in the research on carbon sinks of parks under special ecological environments, and further enrich the data used. </sec>

Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and urban public green spaces availability: A localized modeling approach to inform land use policy

Cemeteries as public urban green space: Management, funding and form

Exploring inequality in green space accessibility for women - Evidence from Mashhad, Iran

What Ideal Green Spaces for the City of Tomorrow, Providing Ecosystem Services?

Sustainable urban soil management is becoming increasingly crucial due to its vital role in climate and water regulation and its significant potential for storing soil organic carbon (SOC). This significance is emphasized considering the ongoing urbanization and climate change issues. Although SOC is influenced by many factors, such as soil type and climate fluctuations (temperature, precipitation patterns), on a regional scale, land use and management practices (e.g., fertilization, irrigation) can have a more significant impact on SOC storage and the balance of soil-atmosphere carbon fluxes. However, there is still a limited understanding of the amount of humus content in urban soils and the effects of urban development and management practices on soil health and carbon storage. We investigated how management practices in urban green spaces influence soil carbon storage as the primary indicator of soil health.The present study was carried out in the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg area, as the region is vital in terms of sustainable urban and regional development with a high population density (Rhein-Sieg district: 338.4, Bonn: 520.9 inhabitants/km2) in Germany. A survey was conducted with owners and managers of urban private (e.g., allotment and backyard garden) and public green spaces on the practices for the most common vegetation types (e.g., lawn, vegetable, ornamental). In the autumn and winter of 2022, 248 soil samples (0&amp;#8211;20 cm depth) were collected from 95 private and public green spaces in the study area and analyzed for physiochemical and biological properties. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was performed to assess the effects of different management practices on soil properties.Our results indicate that the average SOC stock in public green areas (94.67 Mg ha-1) is substantially higher than in private ones (house garden 67.72 Mg ha-1, allotment garden 73.15 Mg ha-1). Moreover, urban green spaces with vegetables (91.66 Mg ha-1) and ornamentals (85.05 mg ha-1) show greater SOC stock levels when comparing vegetation types (lawn 62.48 Mg ha-1). Significant differences in SOC are also found for various management practices. Specifically, the monthly fertilization schedule resulted in higher SOC levels (127.37 Mg ha&amp;#8315;&amp;#185;) compared to the yearly fertilization schedule (76.88 Mg ha&amp;#8315;&amp;#185;). Additionally, the use of organic fertilizers contributed to increased SOC levels (84.40 Mg ha&amp;#8315;&amp;#185;) in contrast to mineral fertilizer applications (65.31 Mg ha&amp;#8315;&amp;#185;). The average SOC stock in all the studied urban green spaces (85 mg ha-1) was higher than the average SOC stock in arable soils in Germany (47.30 Mg ha-1). The higher SOC in the region could be due to vegetation types and fertilization frequencies, which show statistically significant effects (p-value