Urban Green Space Management Research Articles

Assessing Spatial Heterogeneity in Urban Park Vitality for a Sustainable Built Environment: A Case Study of Changsha

In the realm of sustainable city development, evaluating the spatial vitality of urban green spaces (UGS) has become increasingly pivotal for assessing public space quality. This study delves into the spatial heterogeneity of park vitality across diverse urban landscapes at a city scale, addressing limitations inherent in conventional approaches to understanding the dynamics of park vitality. Leveraging geotagged check-in data from 65 parks in the study case of Changsha City, a quantitative analysis was undertaken to assess spatial vitality. The investigation incorporated data concerning internal and external factors influencing park vitality, employing the Multi-scale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) model to dissect nuanced spatial heterogeneity. The research uncovers notable spatial discrepancies in factors influencing park vitality across diverse urban areas, emphasizing the reliance on adjacent residential communities and internal commercial amenities provision. These dependencies correspond with economic development differences among urban locales, revealing distinct geographic trends. This study has a novel perspective and methodology for investigating urban park vitality, providing significant insights for urban green space planning and management. It emphasizes the necessity of acknowledging spatial diversity in urban park planning and design by incorporating the distinct socio-economic characteristics of each urban zone, which is crucial for both urban planners and policymakers.

Evaluating implied urban nature vitality in San Francisco: An interdisciplinary approach combining census data, street view images, and social media analysis

Urban green spaces (UGS) are vital in modern cities, offering extensive health, social, and environmental benefits. However, traditional research methods primarily focus on UGS distribution and aggregation through 2D mapping, often neglecting the quality and vitality of urban natural environments. This limited approach hampers our full understanding of the complex issues and opportunities surrounding UGS. This study proposes a novel concept of Implied Urban Nature Vitality (IUNV) and evaluation framework that offers a comprehensive lens to understand better and evaluate the manifold human-urban-nature interactions in modern cityscapes. Based on our IUNV framework, an interdisciplinary investigation is conducted to show the distribution and population-level perceived IUNV in San Francisco by leveraging a triad of data sources: census, street-built environment, and social media data. Utilizing census data, we analyze socio-economic influences on UGS distribution and IUNV, including factors such as education, age demographics, income, and ethnicity. Street view imagery (SVI), analyzed with advanced image recognition algorithms, serves as a proxy for visual and physical aspects of IUNV, highlighting features like trees, sky, buildings, and roads. This analysis paints a granular picture of UGS's spatial distribution and physical attributes, facilitating an objective measure of IUNV. Subsequently, we analyze Flickr photos related to urban natural areas, examining their distribution and identifying thematic clusters that illuminate various aspects of UGS vitality. Lastly, we combine computer vision and manual review to define 12 IUNV themes from architecture and nature, eco-friendly gatherings, to cultural performance, exploring the relationship between the vitality clusters and the independent variables. The main findings are: (1) Macro-level factors (e.g., accessibility level, land use mix level, road density, population density, etc.) are the dominant variables influencing IUNV.; (2) Street view factors play key roles in IUNV. Through this holistic IUNV analysis, the study shed light on the complexities of urban green space planning and management, informing future urban development strategies towards greater vitality and, by extension, environmental and social sustainability.

Double-Branch Multi-Scale Contextual Network: A Model for Multi-Scale Street Tree Segmentation in High-Resolution Remote Sensing Images.

Street trees are of great importance to urban green spaces. Quick and accurate segmentation of street trees from high-resolution remote sensing images is of great significance in urban green space management. However, traditional segmentation methods can easily miss some targets because of the different sizes of street trees. To solve this problem, we propose the Double-Branch Multi-Scale Contextual Network (DB-MSC Net), which has two branches and a Multi-Scale Contextual (MSC) block in the encoder. The MSC block combines parallel dilated convolutional layers and transformer blocks to enhance the network's multi-scale feature extraction ability. A channel attention mechanism (CAM) is added to the decoder to assign weights to features from RGB images and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). We proposed a benchmark dataset to test the improvement of our network. Experimental research showed that the DB-MSC Net demonstrated good performance compared with typical methods like Unet, HRnet, SETR and recent methods. The overall accuracy (OA) was improved by at least 0.16% and the mean intersection over union was improved by at least 1.13%. The model's segmentation accuracy meets the requirements of urban green space management.

Green streetism precarity in Kumasi, Ghana

There is much interest in urban green space planning and management; yet little attention has been paid to the notions of green streetism in African cities. This paper responds to this lacuna by using a case study of Kumasi (Ghana) to: (i) examine the character of urban green space; (ii) analyze agency knowledge on green streetism; and (iii) assess agency strategies for changing the phase of green streetism. Using secondary document analysis and interview with seven urban planning agencies, findings show a rapid decline of urban green space in Kumasi from about 31% of the total land area in 2013 to about 3% in 2022. Despite all respondents reporting knowledge on green streetism, they identified resource constraints, nonchalant attitude of some urban citizens and poor maintenance practices as major barriers to green streetism development and management in the city. Strategies for reviving green streetism are further discussed, within the context of African urbanization.

Analysis and evaluation of the burning characteristics of six commonly used herbaceous species in Beijing.

Surface vegetations are one of the key factors affecting the spread of green space fires. To explore the combustibility of commonly used local surface layer herbaceous species in Beijing, and to provide a reference for the construction and management of urban green space, we comprehensively evaluated the combustibility of Carex giraldiana, Carex breviculis, Liriope spicata, Iris lactea, Iris tectorum, and Buffaloe dactyloides, with the entropy weight method and K-mean cluster analysis based on the principal component analysis method. We measured the combustion characteristics indicators (blade ignition point, combustion time and heat release rate), physical and chemical indicators (leaf moisture content and crude fat content), and biological characteristics indicators (blade thickness and unit load) during the key period of fire prevention. The results showed that blade thickness and ignition point got the highest weight and affected the overall combustibility most. Peak heat release rate and ignition time had the lowest weight and minimal impact on the overall combustibility. The combustibility of the six species followed an order of B. dactyloides > C. breviculmis > L. spicata > C. giraldiana > I. lactea > I. tectorum. Results of the clustering analysis showed that the combustion ability of B. dactyloides, C. breviculmis, and L. spicata were in class Ⅰ, with the strongest combustion ability; C. giraldiana was in class Ⅱ; I. lactea and I. tectorum were in class Ⅲ, with the lowest flammability. As widely used surface vegetations, critical attention should be paid on B. dactyloides, C. breviculmis and L. spicata for fire prevention in winter and spring.

Urban green spaces as a factor in the sustainable development of megacities

This article examines the management of urban green spaces as a key factor in the sustainable development of megacities, with a special emphasis on the experience of Krasnoyarsk, a city with a population of over one million facing complex climatic and landscape conditions. It analyzes factors influencing the city’s greening strategy and explores parks, squares, and floral compositions as elements of the urban environment. Suggestions for optimizing greening in Krasnoyarsk are put forward, highlighting its crucial role in the city’s sustainable development.

What makes a successful industrial heritage park?—China's experience based on the ecosystem cultural services perspective

<abstract> <p>The transformation of downtown industrial spaces is prevalent in cities in China and the global South. Because of economic development and social transformation, former factories no longer carry out production activities and are abandoned. Industrial heritage parks, as integrated urban parks with new cultural and ecological paradigms, provide unique cultural ecosystem services (CES) that contribute to the sustainable development of urban renewal. Assessing their CES to identify public satisfaction is essential for urban green space planning and management and for enhancing human well-being. Thus, we tried to investigate public perceptions of CES in industrial heritage parks and explored the relationship between public satisfaction with CES and high-quality industrial heritage parks. Using importance-satisfaction analysis (ISA) to assess CES based on public perceptions, the cultural ecosystem services importance satisfaction analysis (CES-ISA) framework was established. Two successful examples of industrial heritage renewal in China, Qijiang Park, and Shougang Park were selected as case studies. The results indicated that: ⅰ) There is a positive correlation between public importance-satisfaction feedback at the cultural level and high quality industrial heritage parks; ⅱ) the recreational, aesthetic and cultural heritage, and spiritual services provided by industrial heritage parks were the types of CES most valued by the public; ⅲ) improving the sense of place service is key to enhancing public satisfaction and promoting the sustainability of industrial heritage parks; ${\rm{iiii}}$) the CES-ISA framework can identify differences between public perceptions of importance and satisfaction with CES. It is beneficial to obtain management priorities for cultural services in industrial heritage parks.</p> </abstract>

Avian urban ecology in Nepal: A call for attention

Urbanization is increasing at an unprecedented rate, leading to changes in land use resulting in the loss of habitat for birds worldwide. Nevertheless, urban areas still support approximately 20% of the world's bird population. In Nepal, urbanization has been rapidly increasing in recent decades, yet little attention has been paid to urban biodiversity exacerbating the impact of urban expansion on threatened birds. In this perspective article, we explore studies on urban birds in Nepal to identify existing research patterns, discuss what has been known, outline gaps and pave immediate future interventions in studies of avian urban ecology in Nepal. There has been a significantly lower number of studies on urban birds in Nepal compared to neighbouring India and China in the last 10 years. Studies of urban birds in Nepal are at a very early stage focused on the diversity and richness in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Butwal with no baseline data for other major cities. Our understanding of bird homogenization or extinction as well as the effects of birds on cities, such as their rapid colonization and potential role as pests, may be limited by this dearth of knowledge about urban birds and biodiversity. Therefore, we have outlined future research opportunities in avian urban ecology in Nepal such as long-term bird surveys, interdisciplinary field of studies, diseases study, management of urban green spaces, avian adaptation to urban environments, colonization and extinction patterns in cities, and conflicts, challenges, and management strategies related to urban avian ecology. With this article, we call the immediate attention of scientists, urban planners, and related stakeholders to use birds as a model system to study urban environments which could be a good start in building a bird-friendly city.

Soundscape diversity of different public green spaces in cities

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.

Comparing water requirements of urban landscape plants in an arid environment: An application of the WUCOLS method in the National Botanical Garden of Iran

Water scarcity is a pressing issue in many arid and semi-arid regions worldwide, requiring effective water resource management. To address this challenge in the National Botanical Garden of Iran, we analyzed the water requirements for the irrigation of ten tree species over the entire growth period, spanning from January 2021 to January 2022. We employed the Water Use Classification of Landscape Plants (WUCOLS) method, and used remote and on-site measurements to obtain the required data (i.e., enhanced vegetation index, leaf area index, rainfall, and site and species characteristics) for the analysis. We found that Ficus carica L., Cercis siliquastrum L., and Ulmus glabra Hudson had high landscape evapotranspiration (ETL) values, showing their elevated water requirements. Among all the species studied, F. carica, C. siliquastrum, and U. glabra showed the highest total ETL, reaching 1033, 1031, and 1002 mm respectively, highlighting their overall greater water needs throughout the study period. Further, we computed the annual net water requirement (IRn) for each plant species, taking into account the effective rainfall of 123.5 mm during the growth period of the study garden. We found that F. carica, C. siliquastrum, and U. glabra had the highest IRn among all the species with values of 950, 948, and 919 mm respectively. In contrast, Olea europaea L., and Quercus robur L. had the lowest IRn values of 681, and 711 mm, respectively. Additionally, we assessed the difference between annual irrigation values (AI) and gross water requirement values (IRg). Cercis siliquastrum and F. carica with values of −519 mm and − 511 mm had the largest negative differences, indicating that these species received the least irrigation water in comparison with their gross water requirements among all the species. In contrast, Cotinus coggygria, and O. europaea, with values of 182 mm and 125 mm had the largest positive differences, suggesting that these species received the most irrigation water in comparison with their gross water requirements among all the species. Our findings hold significance for the management of urban green spaces, including botanical gardens, parks, and street trees, contributing to the well-being of urban residents and visitors.

Effects of thermal perception on restorative benefits by green space exposure: A pilot study in hot-humid China

Green space exposure can bring various psychological restorative benefits, including attention restoration, stress recovery, and mood improvement. However, most research on restorative environments has focused on visual and acoustic experiences. The role of thermal perception in psychological restoration has been largely overlooked. Based on a pre-test-post-test design intervention experiment in an urban park in Guangzhou, China, this study investigated the relationship between thermal perception and the psychological restorative benefits of three types of green space in hot-humid areas. Thirty-eight university students participated in this experiment, each engaging in three environmental stimuli. The results showed that: 1) short-term exposure to urban park grassland and forest in hot and humid areas significantly increased the Perceived restorativeness scale (PRS) score and decreased negative emotions, for example, Anger. 2) Thermal Comfort Vote (TCV) significantly predicted the PRS score. 3) The type of green space greatly influenced the effect of TCV on PRS. These findings prove the relationship between thermal perception and the restorative benefits of green space exposure. The study further integrates the research areas of urban climate, green exposure, and psychological restoration. Incorporating thermal perception and psychological restoration concepts in urban green spaces' design and management helps enhance comfort and psychological well-being.

An Assessment of urban greening challenges and opportunities associated with urban densification in the EThekwini Municipality

ABSTRACT It is critical that urban densification is accepted as a planning strategy for enhanced, sustainable urban development, especially considering the compacting of urban areas, integrated land uses, reduced land take and the need to conserve urban green spaces. Nevertheless, its implementation has challenged the management of urban green spaces. Densification has created a dilemma in planning as planners battle to provide better green spaces, while simultaneously implementing urban densification projects. This study explores the persistent challenges and opportunities of urban densification in intermediate African cities, using a case study of Umhlanga in the eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study used a mixed method approach, using questionnaires, unstructured interviews and field observations. The results indicated that urban growth in intermediate towns is dominated by horizontal expansion, despite introducing urban densification policies, which has proved detrimental to ecological conservation. Furthermore, embarking on growth that integrates various land uses is increasingly enhancing those towns’ resilience and slowing down urban sprawl. This study shows that transformation in urban planning is essential in integrating ecological conservation in densification projects. Urban densification should not be treated in isolation but involve multiple city stakeholders in several city departments to achieve a broad range of goals.

Determinants of the urban green spaces management practices in the city of Niamey, Niger

Urban green spaces in the city of Niamey are under the threat of rapid urbanization in the context of climate change. The urban green space management becomes paramount and solicits the stakeholders' participation. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the determinants of the urban green space management practiced by the dwellers in Niamey City. Based on the questionnaire, the multinomial logistic model was applied to the primary data collected from close to 390 randomly selected households. The results show that the variables shade from urban green spaces, gender, household size, education level, monthly income, work status, length of time living in the districts, the status of peripheral areas, status of transitional areas, cost of the management, and plant market are the determinants of the urban green space management practices. These results give a signal to urban managers, and decision-makers on the factors to be addressed for better delivering urban green spaces likely to enhance urban climate resilience.

Both management practices and landscape influence plant communities in urban grasslands

The development of urban areas now requires the integration of biodiversity issues, and this leads to better consideration of their seminatural habitats. Among these habitats, urban grasslands subjected to mowing management practices are commonly promoted over lawns to enhance biodiversity in cities. Despite their ecological value, relatively little attention has been paid to the effects of urban grassland management regimes or the landscape contexts of these habitats in terms of biodiversity. This study aims to investigate the effects of mowing practices and the landscape context of urban grasslands on species diversity and composition and the ecological strategies of plant communities. In this study, 66 sites (mown grasslands) were selected in the Angers and Rennes conurbations of western France according to their management practices (regarding mowing) and landscape gradient (more or less urbanized). The results show that mowing practices and landscape composition did not affect the richness or diversity of plant species but significantly influenced the composition of communities. Partitioning analysis showed that landscape composition explained twice as much of the variance in plant species composition as mowing practices did. Landscape composition favors plant species according to their strategies, preferential habitats, and life spans. Furthermore, diversification of management practices limits the establishment of nonnative species and induces a wider range of functional strategies, as late mowing favors competitors and disfavors stress-tolerant species. Nevertheless, management practices need to be put into perspective in the context of urban grasslands. Thus, this research brings new perspectives to recommendations for the management of urban green spaces.

Associations between vacant urban lands and public health outcomes in growing and shrinking cities

Vacant urban land, although not officially designated as a green space, often exhibits a semi-wild natural state due to being left open to colonization by nature. Attention to the effects of vacant urban land on human health has increased due to both rising urban vacancy rates and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, relationships between many vacant land characteristics (such as vegetation coverage, size, duration, and location) and NCDs have not been comprehensively examined, especially comparing shrinking (depopulating) and growing (populating) cities. This study evaluates St. Louis, MO (shrinking), and Los Angeles, CA (growing) to explore these relationships using ordinary least squares (OLS) interaction analysis with a moderator approach. Results show that associations between vacancy rate, duration, location, and NCDs differ significantly between city types. Vegetation coverage and size are associated with specific NCDs, but there are no differences between city types. Unlike the largely dilapidated vacant lands in the shrinking city, which tend to harm public health, vacant lots in the growing city were more functional green spaces that can, in some cases, even mitigate NCDs. Interestingly, In St. Louis, the shorter the average duration of the vacant land, the greater the risk of NCDs in a shrinking city. This is because vacant land can be contagious to nearby lots if not treated, leading to more newly emerged vacant lands and reducing the average duration of vacant land. In such cases, census tracts with the lower duration of vacant lands in St. Louis tend to be areas facing persistent environmental degradation and high public health threats. Regarding location, vacant lands near industrial areas were linked to negative health outcomes in the Los Angeles (growing), while those near single-family and commercial areas posed higher risks of NCDs in the St Louis (shrinking). The findings aid decision-making for land supply regulation and regeneration as well as urban green space management to promote human health and well-being.

The Impact of Urbanization on the Distribution of Spontaneous Herbaceous Plants in an Ancient City: A Pilot Case Study in Jingzhou, China.

Spontaneous herbaceous plants (SHPs) play an essential role in urban biodiversity. Research on the diversity of SHPs has profound implications for the conservation of urban biodiversity and green space management in the process of urbanization. We investigated the habitat, life form, and growth form of SHPs by combining samples and inspections in Jingzhou, in central southern China. Additionally, we chose three typical regions-Ji'nan, Gucheng, and Shashi-for the examination and comparison of biodiversity. The results showed that diverse habitats provided abundant living space for SHPs of different growth forms and life forms in Jingzhou. Water edges with higher humidity do not significantly support more SHP growth forms and life forms, except for pseudo-rosette, partial-rosette, and perennial plants. In addition, both wasteland and road gaps and slopes support significantly more SHP growth forms, including erect, tussock, and others. Wasteland supported the vast majority of species, both growth forms and life forms. In the diverse habitats, there are 352 plant species belonging to 70 families and 236 genera in Jingzhou (Ji'nan 184 species, Gucheng 157 species, and Shashi 127 species). Plant species diversity differed according to the level of management. The Ji'nan region had a large number of SHP species because of the less disruptive and milder management implemented in this region. SHPs show good performance and can provide wild landscape effects; therefore, they have the potential to be used in many urban landscaping applications. In the process of urbanization expansion, we should implement the concept of protection and coordinated development in new construction areas. Our study has important implications for the support of SHPs in urban areas.

Comprehensive evaluation of carbon sequestration potential of landscape tree species and its influencing factors analysis: implications for urban green space management

BackgroundContinuous increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) has aggravated global warming and promoted urban tree planting projects for many countries. So it’s imperative to select high carbon sequestering landscape tree species while considering their aesthetic values of urban green space.Results32 tree species were selected as test objects which were commonly used in landscaping in Zhengzhou, a typical northern city of China. To assess the comprehensive carbon sequestration potential of landscape tree species in different plant configuration types, we simultaneously considered their daily net carbon sequestration per unit leaf area (wCO2), daily net carbon sequestration per unit land area (WCO2) and daily net carbon sequestration of the whole plant (QCO2) through cluster analysis. Besides that, we found out the key factors affecting carbon sequestration potential of landscape tree species by redundancy analysis.ConclusionPopulus, P Stenoptera, P. acerifolia among large arbors (LA), V odoratissimum, P. Serratifolia, S. oblata among small arbors (SA), and B sinica var. Parvifolia, B. Megistophylla, L quihoui among shrubs (S) were recommended for local urban green space management. Photosynthetic rate (Pn), crown area (CA) and leaf area index (LAI) were the key factors which affected the comprehensive carbon sequestration potential both for LA, SA and S.

The Composition and Assembly of Soil Microbial Communities Differ across Vegetation Cover Types of Urban Green Spaces

Soil microorganisms play an important role in urban green spaces by providing ecological functions. However, information on the structure and assembly of microbial communities and the public risk of pathogenic bacteria in urban green spaces remains elusive. Here, we conducted a field survey on soil organisms in different vegetation cover types of urban green spaces (e.g., grasslands, shrublands, and woodlands) based on 16 S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. We found that soil microbial communities in grasslands were dominated by Pseudomonadota, Acidobacteriota, Actinomycetota, and Chloroflexota. The diversity and niche breadth of the microbial communities in grasslands showed differences compared to shrublands and woodlands. Stochastic processes, which contribute to community assembly in grasslands, were lower compared to shrublands and woodlands, dominating the soil microbial community assembly of urban green spaces. Compared with soil microbial communities in scrublands and woodlands, the network of soil microbial communities in grasslands was simpler and had a weaker stability. Furthermore, the value of the microbial index of pathogenic bacteria in the observed green spaces was 0.01, which means that the risk of potential pathogens in green spaces was low. This study provides crucial information for the sustainable management of urban green spaces by regulating soil microorganisms, offering novel insights into the public health risks associated with potential pathogenic bacteria in these green spaces.

Geolocated social media data for measuring park visitation in Shenzhen, China

Understanding park visitation patterns and factors that correlate with park use is conducive to urban green space management and planning. Although a growing number of studies have indicated geolocated social media can be used as a proxy for recreational use analysis, most of them relied on a single or similar social media platform(s). In this study, we used geolocated social media data among four popular platforms in China to estimate park visitation and explore the influence of 13 potential factors on park usage in Shenzhen by the geographical detector model. A park visitation index was introduced to estimate park usage, and it indicated large parks, such as natural and city parks, have a higher park visitation index than community parks in Shenzhen. In contrast to the check-in data, the real-time user data has a higher potential to describe park visitation citywide. Our findings demonstrate park size, sports and recreation amenities, the length of trails, and the nearby building density of a given park are likely to influence park visitation. The enhanced interactive relationship of 13 potential determinants of park usage can provide implications for urban park management and planning.

Habitat heterogeneity explains cultivated and spontaneous plant richness in Haikou City, China

Recent urbanization and human activities have led to the fragmentation of natural landscape patches and reduced the connectivity and degradation of urban ecosystems and biodiversity. Urban plant richness affects social functions and the well-being of urban residents and is driven by land use, local wealth, and urban green space management. Among these drivers, it remains unclear which factors play a more important role in driving the relative diversity of cultivated and spontaneous plant species richness in cities. Therefore, we investigated the spatial patterns and the drivers of cultivated and spontaneous plant species richness within 190 urban functional units (UFUs) in the tropical coastal city of Haikou, China, based on remote sensing data, fieldwork, and surveys of socioeconomic and greening management practices. Using multiple linear regression, we found that the most cultivated plants were located at colleges and universities, public affair service districts, and around hospitals, while the most spontaneous plants were found in transportation districts. The spatial organization of these plants was influenced by factors such as patchiness, connectivity, maintenance frequency and fertilizing frequency. Cultivated plants, conversely, were found to increase with patchiness and connectivity, and their presence was positively related to fertilizing and maintenance frequency. The richness of both spontaneous and cultivated plants was found to be influenced by various factors among different urban functional units (UFUs). The proximity to freshwater resources was found to increase the number of spontaneous plant species. Our findings underscore the significant impact of human activities on urban plant richness and highlight the importance of understanding these dynamics for urban planning and biodiversity conservation. Our work contributes to the scarce literature on the drivers of cultivated and spontaneous plant richness in recently developed tropical cities.