Abstract
Natural habitats and their biodiversity are usually associated with protected areas, incompatible with direct anthropogenic influence. Is there a biodiversity in urban environment, what is the role of peri-urban areas to the provision of species richness and is their potential being properly utilized? These are current issues that deserve the attention of decision-makers because the human's need of natural environment in cities is expressed more intensely than in any previous period in history. Green and blue infrastructure elements, being part of the larger system of urban ecosystems, provide an essential and proven benefits to the city dwellers, like health improvement, opportunities for nature-based daily outdoor recreation, strengthening sense of place etc. The main objective of this research is to assess this part of the landscape elements in urban and peri-urban environment, which are most supportive to the maintenance of habitats and their biodiversity. Selected Functional urban area with center city of Burgas is choosen for a case study. The urban ecosystems are assessed in GIS environment with unified indicator (based on City Biodiversity Index approach) according to 5 criteria: hemeroby index, share of protected areas, fragmentation index, presence of water and species richness. The assessment is performed on two spatial levels: within Functional urban area by Urban Atlas spatial units and within urban core – by grid cells (local climate zones). The final higher scores identify areas that provide the greatest extent the maintenance of habitats and their biodiversity. The results could support the urban planning and help to optimize the link between the natural elements within the Functional urban areas, providing ecological, economic and social benefits to the regions through the enhancement of the urban ecosystem’s functions and their services.
Highlights
Global urbanization includes both urban sprawl and growing density of existing urban areas
The main objective of this research is to assess this part of the landscape elements in urban and peri-urban environment, which are most supportive to the maintenance of habitats and their biodiversity: in case of Burgas Functional Urban Areas (FUA)
The first step of the analysis focuses on the results of the combined indicator on regional level – within the FUA’ municipalities
Summary
Global urbanization includes both urban sprawl and growing density of existing urban areas. Floods and droughts related to climate change, urbanization is a challenge for our cities and for the geographical concentrations, where about 60% of the world's population will soon live (Haase 2021). Rising global temperatures causes the raising ocean/sea levels, increasing the number of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and storms, and increasing the spread of tropical diseases. All this has a costly impact on basic services in cities, infrastructure, housing, food and human health.At the same time, cities are making a significant contribution to increasing the global temperatures, as urban areas are the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions. It is essential that cities become an integral part of the solution to the fight against climate change
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