Extent Of Green Spaces Research Articles

Information Categorization for Canopy Mapping using Quality Control (QC) Tool – Affinity Diagram (KJ Method)

Canopy mapping involves the process of accurately delineating and assessing the distribution and extent of green spaces, trees, and vegetation within a designated area. Understanding the canopy's characteristics holds paramount importance, as it plays a critical role in supporting biodiversity, regulating microclimates, and mitigating the adverse impacts of urbanization on the environment. This research paper focuses on exploring the practical application of the KJ method and collaborative brainstorming to gather and organize relevant information for canopy mapping. The study engaged six undergraduate students, under the guidance of a faculty member specialized in geoinformatics, in a productive brainstorming session, generating twenty-one diverse ideas related to canopy mapping. Through a methodical process of iterative refinement and consensus-building, the students effectively grouped these ideas into four distinct categories: "Data Sources," "Canopy Estimation Process," "Canopy Map Development," and "Accuracy Assessment." The resulting Affinity Diagram served as a clear and well-structured representation of the research paper's key aspects, harnessing the collective intelligence of the team to organize complex information and facilitate the precise mapping of tree canopies. This collaborative approach proved instrumental in enhancing the project's efficiency and effectiveness, promoting a cooperative environment that fosters innovation and informed decision-making.

Assessing equality in neighbourhood availability of quality greenspace in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

We assess the relationship between neighbourhood-level deprivation and local greenspace quality in Glasgow, Scotland. There is interest globally in inequality within the accessibility of urban greenspace. It is recognised that social and political inequalities can lead to less well-off areas having less or lower-quality greenspace. We evaluate the relationship between neighbourhood-level deprivation and greenspace quality by combining socio-economic data with assessment of neighbourhood greenspace from Google Street View, subjecting our observations to statistical testing. On nearly all measures of greenspace quality, there is a statistically significant correlation between deprivation and greenspace quality, with more disadvantaged areas having lower-quality greenspace. We show it is not only the presence or extent of greenspace, but also the characteristics within greenspaces, that vary with deprivation. As existing research suggests, greenspace attributes such as tranquillity, greenness and perceived safety are important to unlock the health, wellbeing and resilience benefits that good quality greenspace can provide.

Plant taxonomic richness and phylogenetic diversity across different cities in China

Analyses of the phylogenetic relatedness of plant communities in urban areas have great potential to inform future diversity planning in expanding or new urban areas. The influences affecting the number of taxa found in urban areas and their phylogenetic diversity remains unclear. Both native and exotic (or imported) plant species can be found in urbanized areas: some grow spontaneously, and some are cultivated. These groups likely have different drivers: cultivated species diversity may be dependent on city wealth and the nature and extent of green space within those urban areas. In contrast, spontaneous species diversity may be more closely related to the constraints of climate. In this study, we analyzed the drivers of plant taxonomic richness and phylogenetic diversity of five groups (native-spontaneous, native-cultivated, exotic-spontaneous, exotic-cultivated and all) across 18 different cities in China that spanned different climate zones and socioeconomic status. We used both fieldwork and existing literature in our study. We constructed general linear models to assess whether the number of taxa and the phylogenetic diversity of plant life in each of the five studied groups could be related to any of two biophysical variable Mean Annual Temperature (MAT) and Mean Annual Precipitation (MAP as well as two socioeconomic variables, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Urban Greening Percentage (UGP). We identified 5163 plant species (229 families and 1730 genera) in the combined final plant species list from the 18 Chinese cities. The composition of all plant species was positively correlated (p < 0.01) with both MAP and MAT. Very few diversity metrics seemed to be related to the environmental factors tested, but the patterns were consistent with expectations. The Net Relatedness Index (NTI) of native cultivated species was negatively related to socioeconomic variable UGP (greater overdispersion with greater UGP), whereas the family richness and phylogenetic overdispersion of urban spontaneous plant species were positively related to the climate variable MAT. These findings might indicate long-term urban legacy effects over the course of centuries as have been observed in other world regions having a long history of urbanization.

Temporal changes in greenspace in a highly urbanized region

The majority of the world's population now lives in towns and cities, and urban areas are expanding faster than any other land-use type. In response to this phenomenon, two opposing arguments have emerged: whether cities should 'sprawl' into the wider countryside, or 'densify' through the development of existing urban greenspace. However, these greenspaces are increasingly recognized as being central to the amelioration of urban living conditions, supporting biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service provision. Taking the highly urbanized region of England as a case study, we use data from a variety of sources to investigate the impact of national-level planning policy on temporal patterns in the extent of greenspace in cities. Between 1991 and 2006, greenspace showed a net increase in all but one of 13 cities. However, the majority of this gain occurred prior to 2001, and greenspace has subsequently declined in nine cities. Such a dramatic shift in land use coincides with policy reforms in 2000, which favoured densification. Here, we illustrate the dynamic and policy-responsive nature of urban land use, thereby highlighting the need for a detailed investigation of the trade-offs associated with different mechanisms of urban densification to optimize and secure the diverse benefits associated with greenspaces.

Temporal dynamics of the urban heat island of Singapore

The temporal variability of the canopy-level urban heat island (UHI) of Singapore is examined for different temporal scales on the basis of observations during a 1-year period. Temperature data obtained from different urban areas (commercial, Central Business District (CBD), high-rise and low-rise housing) are compared with ‘rural’ reference data and analysed with respect to meteorological variables and differences in land use. The results indicate that the peak UHI magnitude occurs 3–4 h (>6 h) after sunset in the commercial area, (at other urban sites). Higher UHI intensities generally occur during the southwest monsoon period of May–August, with a maximum of ∼7 °C observed in the commercial area under ideal meteorological conditions. Variations in seasonal precipitation explain some of the differences in urban–rural cooling. No clear relationship between urban geometry and UHI intensity can be seen, and intra-urban variations of temperature are also shown to be influenced by other site factors, e.g. the extent of green space and anthropogenic heat. Lastly, results from the present study are compared with UHI data from other tropical and mid-latitude cities. Copyright © 2006 Royal Meteorological Society.