Amount Of Urban Green Space Research Articles

Access to urban green spaces and use of social services and institutional long-term care among older people in Malmö, Sweden: a longitudinal register study

BackgroundFinding ways to prolong independence in daily life among older people would be beneficial for both individuals and society. Urban green spaces have been found to improve health, but only a few studies have evaluated the association between urban green spaces and independence in daily life. The aim of this study was to assess the long-term effect of urban green spaces on independence in daily life, using social services and support, mobility aids, and relocation to institutional long-term care as proxies, among community dwelling people 65 + years.MethodsWe identified 40 357 people 65 + years living in the city of Malmö, Sweden in 2010. Using geographical information systems (GIS), we determined the amount of urban green spaces (total, public, and quiet) within 300 m of each person’s residence. All three measures were categorized based on their respective percentiles, so that the first quartile represented the 25% with the least access and the fourth quartile the 25% with the most access. In 2015 and 2019, we assessed the outcomes minor assistance (non-personal support), major assistance (personal support), and relocation into institutional long-term care. These three outcome measures were used as proxies for independence in daily life. The effect of amount of urban green spaces in 2010 on the three outcomes in 2015 and 2019, respectively, was assessed by pairwise comparing the three highest quartiles to the lowest.ResultsCompared to the lowest quartile, those in the highest quartile of quiet green spaces in 2010 were less likely to receive minor assistance in both 2015 and 2019. Besides this, there were no indications that any of the measures of urban green space affected independence in daily life at the five- and nine-year follow-up, respectively.ConclusionAlthough urban green spaces are known to have positive impact on health, physical activity, and social cohesion among older people, we found no effect of total, public, or quiet green spaces on independence in daily life. This could possibly be a result of the choice of measures of urban green spaces, including spatial and temporal aspects, an inability to capture important qualitative aspects of the green spaces, or the proxy measures used to assess independence in daily life.

Identification of urban green space availability and utilization in Semarang City

Background: Urban green space land a has been used differently because of Semarang City's rapid development in several sectors, including industry, transportation, and economics. Gajahmungkur Subdistrict determined that the minimum urban green space requirement of 30% had been reached. Methods: The method used in this research is quantitative method with remote sensing. Quantitative methods are used as systematic, rational, measurable, objective, and concrete methods. Findings: However, the identification results may not represent the total amount of urban green space in the village. Conclusion: Therefore, using remote sensing satellite image interpretation of Sampangan Village, the results of urban green space identification amounted to 22.97 ha or 22.6% of the 77.4% non-urban green space area with most of the land being urban green space of riparian type connected to Sampangan Park as a form of utilizing riparian urban green space which is frequently used by visitors to traders. In addition, Kelurahan Sampangan has urban green space utilization in the form of river borders, Sampangan Park, Sampangan Mitra Field, UNNES Labschool Elementary School sports field, Wotgaleh Cemetery, and parking lots. Sampangan Village only has 22.6% of the required minimum of 30% of urban green space, so it still falls short of the standard. Thus, efforts are needed to increase the provision of urban green space in Sampangan Village to become a residential area that is suitable for people to live in from an environmental aspect.

Greening the concrete jungle: Unveiling the co-mitigation of greenspace configuration on PM2.5 and land surface temperature with explanatory machine learning

In densely populated urban areas, the amount of urban green space (UGS) is limited and increasing it can be challenging due to the high proportion of unvegetated land. Therefore, it is crucial to determine the optimal spatial configuration of UGS to achieve environmental benefits such as reducing PM2.5 concentrations and land surface temperature (LST). However, there is limited research on this topic. This study employed an explanatory machine learning method to identify the non-linear relationships between contributing factors and the co-mitigation of PM2.5 and LST in highly-dense urban areas, which had three key advantages: improved accuracy, spatially explicit information, and enhanced understanding of complex relationships. The study found that maintaining a UGS proportion of 25–30 % was desirable for mitigating PM2.5 and LST. Additionally, maintaining an aggregation index above 97, a patch density above 1650, and a largest UGS patch proportion between 2.00 % and 4.85 % was beneficial for co-mitigation. However, the study found conflicting results between shape complexity and co-mitigation. Surprisingly, higher road density appeared to mitigate both PM2.5 and LSTs. Overall, the study highlights the potential of explanatory machine learning methods for sustainable urban environmental management, providing insights into the co-mitigation effects of UGS and urban morphology.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of urban green space in Changchun: Changes, transformations, landscape patterns, and drivers

To better understand the phased changes, development direction and planning challenges of urban green space (UGS) in response to the urbanization process and changing urban development goals, this study examines the spatiotemporal variations, landscape patterns and driving forces of UGSs in Changchun from 1990 to 2020. The results indicate that the evolution of UGSs may be largely categorized into three stages, considerable decline, balance between increase and decrease, and surge increase, accompanied by obvious changes to the landscape. Several factors have contributed to these changes, including natural, urbanization and changing greening policies. Early urbanization resulted in the encroachment and fragmentation of a considerable amount of UGS; however, as urban building priorities have changed, UGS planning has increasingly gained attention. In the third decade of the research period, UGSs greatly expanded, demonstrating some achievements in the construction of UGSs under the background of ecological civilization. Knowledge of the dynamics of UGSs provides a reference for urban greening planning, which also helps cities respond to the call for land “ecological use, ecological security and green development” during the urbanization process in China and similar countries.

Inequality in urban green space benefits: Combining street greenery and park greenery.

In this paper, we measured the amount of urban green space (UGS), defined here as park greenery and street greenery, in the Guangzhou Beltway region using remote sensing image data and the green view index (GVI) based on human visual images. We also evaluated the benefits of UGS comprehensively considering park greenery and street greenery within the Guangzhou Beltway region. We then calculated the urban green space score (UGSS) by assessing the amount of street greenery and park greenery and then juxtaposing the score with the population distribution of the region. The results show inequities in the spatial distribution of UGSS values within the Guangzhou Beltway region. The benefit score of street greenery is low. The service area of parks can’t cover the whole study area. The comprehensive benefit score of UGS is composed of two parts, the park greenery score and the street greenery score, but the spatial distribution of UGSS values remains uneven. The UGS benefits enjoyed by one-half of the population of the study area are low, and the UGSS values of the more densely populated areas are not high.

More urban greenspace, lower temperature? Moving beyond net change in greenspace

Urban heat islands (UHI) exacerbates the heat-related risk associated with global warming, increasing morbidity and mortality of urban residents. While the impacts of the spatial pattern of urban greenspace (UG) and its change on urban heat have been widely examined, there is less understanding of the aggregate effect of the change of UG- considering the loss and gain of UG simultaneously - on urban temperature. This study aims to fill this gap by using Beijing, China as a case study. Using a newly developed index - dynamic index of UG (UGDI) that simultaneously measures the loss and gain of UG in a certain unit of analysis, we investigated how changes in UG affect the daytime and nighttime land surface temperature (LST). We found: (1) A substantial proportion (49.90%) of grids with increased UG cover had increased LST during the daytime, with a magnitude ranging from 0.02 to 1.82 ℃, indicating that the increase in UG does not always result in reduction of LST. (2) UGDI had a significantly positive correlation with LST change, suggesting that increase in UG does not necessarily result in decrease of LST, which can be affected by the degree of dynamics of UG. (3) The evapotranspiration (ET) rate of vegetation for lost greenspace was higher than that of new greenspace, indicating that adding the same amount of UG might not able to provide the same amount of cooling effects provided by lost ones. Results can enhance our understanding on how (landscape) process affects ecological effect. Future research and practical management strategies shall move beyond net increase of UG and focus more on its change process. This finding provides new evidence for explaining the effect of the change of UG on LST, and offers new insights for planning and managing urban natural resource to enhance resilience of cities to climate warming.

Travel-cost method for assessing the monetary value of recreational services in the Ömerli Catchment

Urban catchments in Istanbul, such as the Ömerli Catchment, are expected to receive more visitors in the future due to an increase in population, long-term recreational habits, and an insufficient amount of urban green spaces in the metropolitan area. Therefore, estimating the recreation's monetary value is crucial for developing sustainable spatial strategies for urban catchments that take cultural services and provisionary services into account. Although the Ömerli Catchment is a popular location for inhabitants' recreational demands, the previous studies primarily focused on provisioning and regulating services in the catchment. This study investigates the recreational potential and monetary value of this catchment using the random utility travel-cost method. We found that recreational visits depended on three significant factors: visitors' recreational habits, satisfaction and experience with nature, and urban environment. We also found that the consumer surplus is eight times greater than the average travel cost per person per year. This result shows visitors gain greater benefits from recreational visits than their cost to visit the catchment. We hope that decision-makers and practitioners will benefit from the results while developing spatial planning policies by considering urban catchments' recreational potentials.

Urban green space and happiness in developed countries

Urban green space is thought to contribute to citizen happiness by promoting physical and mental health. Nevertheless, how urban green space and happiness are related across many countries with different socioeconomic conditions has not been explored. By measuring the urban green space score (UGS) from high-resolution satellite imagery of 90 global cities covering 179,168 km2 and 230 million people in 60 developed countries, we find that the amount of urban green space and GDP are correlated with a nation’s happiness level. More specifically, urban green space and GDP are each individually associated with happiness. Yet, only urban green space is related to happiness in the 30 wealthiest countries, whereas GDP alone can explain happiness in the subsequent 30 countries in terms of wealth. We further show that the relationship between urban green space and happiness is mediated by social support and that GDP moderates this relationship. These findings corroborate the importance of maintaining urban green space as a place for social cohesion to support people’s happiness.

Superfrogs in the city: 150year impact of urbanization and agriculture on the European Common Frog.

Despite growing pressure on biodiversity deriving from increasing anthropogenic disturbances, some species successfully persist in altered ecosystems. However, these species' characteristics and thresholds, as well as the environmental frame behind that process are usually unknown. We collected data on body size, fluctuating asymmetry (FA), as well as nitrogen stable isotopes (δ15 N) from museum specimens of the European Common Frog, Rana temporaria, all originating from the Berlin-Brandenburg area, Germany, in order to test: (a) if specimens have changed over the last 150years (1868-2018); and (b) if changes could be attributed to increasing urbanization and agricultural intensity. We detected that after the Second World War, frogs were larger than in pre-war Berlin. In rural Brandenburg, we observed no such size change. FA analysis revealed a similar tendency with lower levels in Berlin after the war and higher levels in Brandenburg. Enrichment of δ15 N decreased over time in both regions but was generally higher and less variable in sites with agricultural land use. Frogs thus seem to encounter favorable habitat conditions after pollution in postwar Berlin improved, but no such tendencies were observable in the predominantly agricultural landscape of Brandenburg. Urbanization, characterized by the proportion of built-up area, was not the main associated factor for the observed trait changes. However, we detected a relationship with the amount of urban greenspace. Our study exemplifies that increasing urbanization must not necessarily worsen conditions for species living in urban habitats. The Berlin example demonstrates that public parks and other urban greenspaces have the potential to serve as suitable refuges for some species. These findings underline the urgency of establishing, maintaining, and connecting such habitats, and generally consider their importance for future urban planning.

Challenges of urban green space management in the face of using inadequate data

Effective urban planning, and urban green space management in particular, require proper data on urban green spaces. The potential of urban green spaces to provide benefits to urban inhabitants (ecosystem services) depends on whether they are managed as a comprehensive system of urban green infrastructure, or as isolated islands falling under the responsibility of different stakeholders. Meanwhile, different urban green space datasets are based on different definitions, data sources, sampling techniques, time periods and scales, which poses important challenges to urban green infrastructure planning, management and research. Using the case study of Lodz, the third largest city in Poland, and an additional analysis of 17 other Polish cities, we compare data from five publicly available sources: 1) public statistics, 2) the national land surveying agency, 3) satellite imagery (Landsat data), 4) the Urban Atlas, 5) the Open Street Map. The results reveal large differences in the total amount of urban green spaces in the cities as depicted in different datasets. In Lodz, the narrowly interpreted public statistics data, which are aspatial, suggest that green spaces account for only 12.8% of city area, while the most comprehensive dataset from the national land surveying agency reveals the figure of 61.2%. The former dataset, which excludes many types of green spaces (such as arable land, private and informal green spaces), is still the most commonly used. The analysis of the 17 other cities confirms the same pattern. This results in broader institutional failures related to urban green infrastructure planning, management, and research, including a lack of awareness of green space quality (e.g. connectivity) and benefits (ecosystem services), and the related political disregard for urban green spaces. Our comparison suggests that a better understanding of green space data sources is necessary in urban planning, and especially when planning urban green infrastructure.

A multivariate analysis integrating ecological, socioeconomic and physical characteristics to investigate urban forest cover and plant diversity in Beijing, China

Understanding the factors driving the variation in urban green space and plant communities in heterogeneous urban landscapes is crucial for maintaining biodiversity and important ecosystem services. In this study, we used a combination of field surveys, remote sensing, census data and spatial analysis to investigate the interrelationships among geographical and social-economic variables across 328 different urban structural units (USUs) and how they may influence the distributions of urban forest cover, plant diversity and abundance, within the central urban area of Beijing, China. We found that the urban green space coverage varied substantially across different types of USUs, with higher in agricultural lands (N=15), parks (N=46) and lowest in utility zones (N=36). The amount of urban green space within USUs declines exponentially with the distance to urban center. Our study suggested that geographical, social and economic factors were closely related with each other in urban ecological systems, and have important impacts on urban forest coverage and abundance. The percentage of forest as well as high and low density urban areas were mainly responsible for variations in the data across all USUs and all land use/land cover types, and thus are important constituents and ecological indicators for understanding and modeling urban environment. Herb richness is more strongly correlated with tree and shrub density than with tree and shrub richness (r=−0.472, p<0.05). However, other geographic and socioeconomic factors showed no significant relationships with urban plant diversity or abundance.