Areas Of European Cities Research Articles

Long-term trends of vegetation greenness under different urban development intensities in 889 global cities

Long-term trends in urban vegetation greenness were systematically analyzed. However, long-term trends in vegetation greenness under different urban development intensities (UDIs) in global cities remain poorly understood. In this study, exurban, suburban, urban and urban core areas were defined according to their UDI in 2001. Subsequently, changes in the UDI and long-term trends in vegetation greenness were analyzed in these four areas in 889 global cities from 2001 to 2019. African and Asian cities have witnessed rapid urbanization, whereas European cities have experienced slow urbanization. The UDI increased significantly in suburban, exurban and urban areas, whereas it remained stable in urban core areas. The enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) increased in all four areas in European cities but decreased in all four areas of the African cities. The EVI and NDVI decreased in suburban and urban areas due to urbanization, but increased in exurban, and urban core areas. Changes in UDI were an important driver of EVI and NDVI trends in exurban and suburban areas. The results of this study enhance our understanding of long-term trends in vegetation greenness in urban and surrounding areas.

Mitigation potential of local traffic interventions on paediatric asthma incidence in EU cities

Abstract Issue/Problem Motorised road traffic is a major contributor to Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) emissions, contributing to the development and worsening of asthma. With a substantial and escalating prevalence of asthma in urban areas worldwide, this is an issue of public health significance. Description of the problem Deploying methods such as Random Forests and Boosted Regression Trees, this study aims to determine the potential reduction in paediatric asthma incidence in European cities that could be achieved through policy interventions targeting local traffic reductions, such as car-free days. Results In trafficked areas in European cities such as Brussels and Paris, up to 40% of asthma incidence can be attributed to NO2 exposure. Preliminary results show a potential reduction of 29% [95% CI: 20-34%], 21% [95% CI: 13-25%], and 12% [95% CI: 7-15 %] in paediatric asthma incidence in trafficked areas, central urban areas, and residential areas in Brussels, respectively. In Trafficked and Urban Background Areas in Paris, we found a potential reduction of 17% [95% CI: 11 -19%] and 13% [95% CI: 8-16%] in paediatric asthma incidence respectively. Trends and findings are consistent with several methodologies applied. Lessons Using real-world interventions such as car-free days is an innovative way to assess the mitigation potential of diseases associated with traffic. Our study highlights the public health significance of local traffic reduction policies in addressing asthma incidence in urban areas. The recommended public health actions include implementing policy interventions to reduce traffic levels and emissions in urban areas. These findings can be useful for other countries/settings facing similar issues with traffic-related air pollution and asthma incidence. The policy intervention can also positively impact other traffic-related health effects such as physical activity, noise, and availability of green spaces. Key messages • Local traffic reduction policies can significantly reduce (paediatric) asthma incidence in urban areas in large European Cities. • Reducing traffic levels reduces traffic-related air pollution and improves public health via pathways such as promoting physical activity, reducing noise, and increasing green space availability.

Harmonization of land-cover data to assess agricultural land transformation patterns in the peri-urban Spanish Mediterranean Huertas

ABSTRACT Most of the peri-urban areas in European cities are characterized by a mix of rural and urban uses. Despite being sprawled areas, they provide opportunities for improving green connectivity at a multiscale level, between urban-green and natural or agricultural peripheral extensions. Several land monitoring services, both at national and European levels, have become key tools to perform the analysis and diagnosis of its transformation patterns and dynamics. However, the accuracy of available datasets is typically not adequate for approaching the spatial complexity of these areas. This research proposes a methodology to improve precision by combining land use datasets and applies it to a specific study case, the peri-urban Spanish Mediterranean Huertas, highly valued agricultural and cultural landscapes under an intense urban pressure. Findings reveal that this method detects and solves inaccuracies, and it is easily replicable in different spatial contexts, becoming an effective tool for decision-making processes.

EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE OF CREATING LANDSCAPE AREAS FOR TEMPORARY REST

Optimization of the environment by means of landscaping is one of the most important scientific, social and economic tasks of today. Historical and contemporary public spaces are currently undergoing rapid change and this raises concerns about negative consequences.
 The basis for writing the article were the conclusions and main provisions of scientific works of recent years. Attention paid to landscape issues at different urban planning hierarchical levels. The object is determined according to the typology of landscape and recreational objects of T. Panchenko. We present materials to clarify the requirements for the formation of parks and places of temporary recreation in the historical districts of the city in a useful article for research, authors K. Zhikhareva and Professor O. Sleptsov. The purpose of the article. Based on the analysis of landscape and recreational spaces of European cities to formulate the characteristics of temporary recreation areas in the central areas of cities. New recreational public spaces in the central areas of European cities of Poland, Austria, Latvia and Czech Republic – the result of architectural and landscape competitions. The main characteristics of the architectural and planning organization depend on the compositional features of the historical environment. Article present author's photographs of the exploration of the central zone of Warsaw. Highlighted the main requirements and restrictions from regulatory sources to ensure the physical, bioclimatic, psychological, aesthetic comfort of residents. The main characteristics of the architectural and planning organization depend on the compositional features of the historical environment. Author’s field survey of the central zone of Warsaw determined. Allocate the basic requirements and restrictions from normative sources for maintenance of physical, bioclimatic, psychological, aesthetic comfort of inhabitants. The possibility of creating universal characteristics is considered.
 The issue that needs to be addressed in the reconstruction of greenery: architectural and landscape assessment to identify the compositional potential of the territory, the main functional areas and species points. For temporary recreation in the central areas of cities, small gardens and squares have the following characteristics: openness, nonlinearity and dispersion.

Geographical stratification of urban green areas in European cities

Abstract This article studies the provision of urban green areas in cities where residents have preferences for the size of and access to those areas. At the optimum, the number of urban green spaces is a nonmonotone function of distance to the city center, while the sizes and distances to other urban green areas increase as one moves to the urban fringe. This article empirically investigates those properties for the 300 largest European cities by using the Global Monitoring Environment Services Urban Atlas database (European Environmental Agency). The empirical analysis confirms the nonmonotone relationship between the number of urban green spaces and the distance to the city center. The distance between two parks also increases as one moves toward the urban fringe.

Urban Green Space: Comparing the EU and Ukrainian Practice

The goal of the paper is to compare the urban green space practice in the EU and Ukraine to find the advantages and drawbacks of both approaches. In order to reach the goal, following tasks has been raised: (1) to reveal the most common patterns of green space allocation in European cities; (2) to consider the urban green landscape in Ukrainian first-tier and second-tier cities; (3) to compare the trends and challenges of urban green space allocation in the EU and Ukraine. In Europe, a typical pattern of green space is a combination of greenbelts, regional green areas, green wedges, green middles, green infrastructure, etc. The main significant feature and advantage of green areas in European cities is the connectivity of the larger objects (parks and woods) and smaller ones (squares, boulevards, inter-quarter plantings, etc.). Urban territories in Ukraine involves quite large green areas (mostly by combining "communal parks" and "green infrastructure"). Transformation crisis leads to the vast decline of industrial zones, which were spontaneously transformed into de-facto green or brown spaces. After economic recovery green space is shrinking dramatically under the pressure of commercial and residential zones. For Ukraine, the challenge is the creation of small urban landscaping facilities and increasing functional content and quality of the existing green spaces.

Geochemical characterization of an urban lake in the centre of Rome (Lake Bullicante, Italy)

Urban lakes have become increasingly important in the planning of urban ecology, green infrastructure and green areas in European cities. This paper describes the chemical, isotope and microbial features of Lake Bullicante, a small artificial lake located within the urban area of the city of Rome. It has an anthropogenic origin due to excavation works that intercepted the underlying aquifer, giving rise to a water body. The lake area is 7.000 m2, with a maximum depth of 7 m and located on the distal deposits of the Alban Hills Volcanic District in an area named Acqua Bullicante (i.e. Bubbling Water), where degassing phenomena were historically recorded. The proximity of this volcanic district motivated the study on Lake Bullicante as a potential open-air laboratory to trace possible degassing phenomena in a highly urbanized area. A preliminary geochemical and microbial sampling survey was carried out in winter 2018. Samples were collected along a vertical profile of the lake from the surface to the maximum depth. Major, minor, trace elements, dissolved gases and stable isotopes (δD-H2O, δ18O- H2O, δ13C-CO2) were analyzed, along with the analysis of 87Sr/86Sr ratio. The microbial community characteristics were analysed by epifluorescence microscopy (CARD-FISH) and flow cytometry. The chemical composition and water isotopes suggest that lake water has a meteoric origin and is related to a Ca-HCO3 shallow aquifer hosted in volcanic rocks. This is confirmed by both the 87Sr/86Sr ratio of lake water, which falls in the range of values of Alban Hills volcanites, and the chemical-isotopic composition of neighboring wells. A relatively high concentration of dissolved CO2, its isotopic signature (δ^13C-CO2 20‰ V-PDB), and the high content in organic matter (DOC 10-30 mg/L) suggest for the lake a eutrophication state with denitrification also occurring. Considering the relatively high concentrations of dissolved CO2, an external input of carbon dioxide cannot be completely excluded and as a consequence, not even the hypothesis of mixing processes between biotic and inorganic CO2. This makes further investigations necessary especially during the summer, when the lake is stratified. A summer survey could be also useful to better understand the microbial processes into the lake, its eutrophication evolution and health status, and to plan eventual proper remediation strategies, providing important tools to the local administration and stakeholders to improve, protect and preserve this ecological niche.

Water Elements in The Creation of Public Space

The need to create high-quality sustainable urban structures is widely emphasized. An important place among the elements shaping a sustainable urban space is occupied by natural elements, including water. The importance of water results from its multifaceted impact both on the physical conditions of the city and its beauty. The article draws attention to the role of water elements in shaping public spaces in the areas of European cities. The role of water in the creation of public spaces and the very diverse range of functions fulfilled by it was emphasized in a particular manner. Among the water elements found in urban spaces, the largest group consists of fountains and bells and whistles. Over the centuries, these water elements played a variety of functions: utility, cult, aesthetic and climatic, while being a significant element of the composition. Selected examples presented in the article concern both historical and contemporary use of water in shaping urban squares and green park and garden spaces. Analysing contemporary examples, particular attention was paid to the use of water elements for ecological remodelling, as well as reviving and increasing the attractiveness of revitalized areas in the urban tissue. This interest in water as a material with a wide variety of possibilities, which results from its physical properties, resulted in a variety of functional and spatial solutions. The research and studies conducted for many years by the author regarding the participation of natural elements, including in particular water and greenery, in the shaping of urban structures were the basis for the considerations. The public spaces with water elements analysed in the paper are places with high aesthetic values. They serve recreation, rest, education, promote social bonding, and are often places for organizing various cultural events or historic happenings. Water in these spaces is not only an element of the composition, but also a factor shaping a special microclimate. The potential of water for the creation of urban space is enormous and still not fully utilized, which is confirmed by subsequent realizations, encouraging with artistic and technical solutions, indicating the ever new possibilities of using water.

More than green: implementation of multifunctional blue-green infrastructure in residential areas of European cities

More than green: implementation of multifunctional blue-green infrastructure in residential areas of European cities

Urban and Peri-Urban Forest Areas in European Cities – A Comparative Remote-Sensing Study

Urban and Peri-Urban Forest Areas in European Cities – A Comparative Remote-Sensing Study

Built-Up Encroachment and the Urban Field: A Comparison of Forty European Cities

We define the urban field as the spatial organisation of urban densities according to decreasing gradients from centre to periphery. This urban field can be estimated from the encroachment of built-up areas. The CORINE Land Cover database enables the measurement of the gradient values for the spatial distribution of built-up areas in European cities. Instead of the exponential or power functions, which usually provide the best fit for the distributions of population densities, we find that two linear functions strongly differentiating a central and a peripheral gradient provide the best fit for built-up surfaces. The comparison between the 1990 and 2000 CORINE images demonstrates a convergence in the trend of urban spread between Northern and Southern European cities. However, it is still difficult from the data to decide which of the models of urban field is winning: will the steeper central gradient become diluted into the less dense periphery, or are the closer fringes of the central parts becoming integrated into the ordered pattern of the urban central agglomerations?

Towards more Social Cohesion in Large Post-Second World War Housing Estates? A Case Study in Utrecht, the Netherlands1

The last few years have seen many studies of large post-Second World War housing estates. At present they are often the most deprived areas of European cities. The turnover of the population on these estates is characteristically rapid, leading to considerable socio-economic and socio-cultural changes and a multi-ethnic neighbourhood. Such areas often have to contend with severe physical, social and economic problems and the consequent dissatisfaction of the residents. This combination of rapid and selective population turnover and increasing numbers of problems may well affect aspects of social cohesion within these neighbourhoods, particularly the social networks. This process is regrettable, because social cohesion is regarded in a positive light, something that enhances the quality of life. Stimulating social cohesion is therefore an important objective of many policies that focus on large post-Second World War housing estates. The authors have found it interesting to discover how important social cohesion is in the opinions and the lives of the inhabitants rather than the policy makers. In their opinion, urban policies focus on social cohesion while the inhabitants' views of its relevance are unknown. On the basis of this paper, certain aspects of social cohesion in large post-Second World War housing estates appear to be valued, but housing market behaviour, such as residential moves, is hardly affected by aspects of social cohesion. Other aspects, such as moving to a better house, are much more relevant. The results may put into doubt the stress placed in urban policies on social cohesion.