Urban Green Space Management Research Articles

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.

‘Wild’ in the city context: Do relative wild areas offer opportunities for urban biodiversity?

Urbanization is increasing worldwide, making it essential to improve management of urban greenspaces for better provisioning of ecosystem services and greater biodiversity benefits. At the same time, societal interest in reduced intensity management regimes is growing for a range of practical and normative reasons. We assessed if relative wild urban greenspaces, under little or no management, are associated with increased levels of biodiversity. We conducted a GIS-based relative wildness mapping for the Danish city Aarhus, and compared relative wildness to field-measured perceived biodiversity at 100 randomly placed sample sites in the city centre. Perceived biodiversity was estimated using the bioscore methodology. The results show a positive relationship between mapped wildness and bioscores, notably within artificial vegetated areas such as parks and gardens, while woodland had the highest wildness and bioscore values overall. All bioscore components measuring structural diversity increased with increasing mapped wildness. The bioscore component compositional richness covered site-level species richness for birds, invertebrates and plants, with invertebrate and bird species richness increasing and plant species richness decreasing with increasing wildness. The latter reflects that woodlands had low site-level plant diversity. Overall, woodlands nevertheless harboured many unique plant species, with woodlands and ruderal areas contributing the greatest beta diversity (inter-site variability in species composition). These findings show that urban greenspace management allowing for spontaneous ecological processes (greater wildness) overall also promotes urban biodiversity, pointing to potential synergies between urban design and management goals for reduced management intensity, increased wildness experiences, and higher biodiversity in urban greenspaces.

Communication Networks and Performance of Four New Delhi City Parks

Urban green spaces are very important for human wellbeing and environmental sustainability. The efficiency of managing urban green spaces often depends on communication and integration of information. We performed a social network analysis survey for assessing the communication structure among the staff in four New Delhi city parks. We were interested in the relationship between three topological properties of the social networks (centre of gravity, MaxS, compactness) and three network-independent attributes of their performance (average satisfaction, visitor’s median expected improvements, number of species identified). The presence of a dynamic leader, improved communication and flow of information down the hierarchical chain and lastly, maximization of interaction and strengthening of relationships of the co-workers are three network properties that emerge as very important for a well-performing park. Through this study, we demonstrate the ability of social network analysis to provide simple, yet powerful, insights that can assist in improving the management of urban green spaces.

The Commons Revisited: Revalorizing the Role of comuneiros in the Redesign of Urban Agro‐Food and Agroforestry Systems

Continuing urbanization means that city regions face challenges of development, governance, and sustainability. One of these challenges relates to the management of urban green space, whether municipal parks, forests, or productive land (animal husbandry, vegetable or fruit production). This paper draws on case study research of forestry associations in Galicia. We pay specific attention to the role of comuneiros (commoners): parishioners, who collectively own and manage often‐neglected green spaces: planting or rejuvenating forests of native species to enhance ecological services (water retention, fire prevention, biodiversity) while also including productive functions such as forest fruit production and small‐scale animal husbandry. At the same time these activities create social benefits. With the aim of examining the position and strategies of self‐governing forest organizations, we explore the organizational‐institutional environment of the commons and how this facilitates (and/or obstructs) the objective of providing multiple sustainable and health benefits within the parishes, between them, and to nearby urban residents. We conclude that this particular type of management of urban green space provides products (food and non‐food) and services which are not only of private interest in that they create potential new business opportunities but also of high public value.

Ecosystem services of collectively managed urban gardens: Exploring factors affecting synergies and trade-offs at the site level

Collective management of urban green space is being acknowledged and promoted. The need to understand productivity and potential trade-offs between co-occurring ecosystem services arising from collectively managed pockets of green space is pivotal to the design and promotion of both productive urban areas and effective stakeholder participation in their management. Quantitative assessments of ecosystem service production were obtained from detailed site surveys at ten examples of collectively managed urban gardens in Greater Manchester, UK. Correlation analyses demonstrated high levels of synergy between ecological (biodiversity) and social (learning and well-being) benefits related to such spaces. Trade-offs were highly mediated by site size and design, resulting in a tension between increasing site area and the co-management of ecosystem services. By highlighting synergies, trade-offs and the significance of site area, the results offer insight into the spatially sensitive nature of ecosystem services arising from multi-functional collectively managed urban gardens.

Was ist «Urban Forestry»?

What is “urban forestry”? This question is discussed in an interview with Cecil C. Konijnendijk van den Bosch, Professor of Urban Forestry at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver (CA). Urban forestry is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the planning, design and management of urban green spaces, and in particular with trees and forests as elements of these urban green spaces. Urban forestry is gaining importance because of health promotion policies, the improvement of quality of life in cities, and cities adapting to climate change. Urban forestry programs should be well connected with urban planning and feature a strong social dimension. Some good urban forestry programs can be found at the local level, e.g. in the city of Melbourne (AU). How ever, national urban forestry programs including political standards and funding are rather rare. In this respect, the most advanced urban forest policies can be found in the US; in Europe, the UK is probably ahead in terms of integrating urban forestry into national policies.

Soil lead contamination decreases bee visit duration at sunflowers

Legacies of lead contamination present challenges in the management of urban greenspaces for beneficial insect conservation. In particular, the sublethal effects of lead contamination on bee foraging behavior could negatively impact plant-pollinator interactions and the sustainability of urban agriculture. It is difficult, however, to distinguish between differences in foraging behavior caused by lead contamination directly as compared to differences resulting from variation in floral traits, which can also be affected by contamination. We compared the foraging behavior of bees, specifically the number of visits and visit duration, at sunflowers grown in lead-contaminated and uncontaminated soils. We also measured soil lead contamination’s effects on sunflower morphological traits. While the number of visits a sunflower head received was not affected by soil lead contamination, bee visit duration was shorter at sunflowers grown in lead contaminated soil. This effect of lead contamination on visit duration was not mediated by sunflower floral traits, which were themselves affected by lead contamination. The inability of bees to distinguish between sunflowers grown in contaminated vs. uncontaminated soil prior to visitation suggests a possible bioaccumulation pathway for lead in bees.

Biodiversity in the city: key challenges for urban green space management

Cities play important roles in the conservation of global biodiversity, particularly through the planning and management of urban green spaces (UGS). However, UGS management is subject to a complex assortment of interacting social, cultural, and economic factors, including governance, economics, social networks, multiple stakeholders, individual preferences, and social constraints. To help deliver more effective conservation outcomes in cities, we identify major challenges to managing biodiversity in UGS and important topics warranting further investigation. Biodiversity within UGS must be managed at multiple scales while accounting for various socioeconomic and cultural influences. Although the environmental consequences of management activities to enhance urban biodiversity are now beginning to be addressed, additional research and practical management strategies must be developed to balance human needs and perceptions while maintaining ecological processes.

Citizens’ perception of and satisfaction with urban forests and green space: Results from selected Southeast European cities

In this paper the results of the first comprehensive study on perception of and satisfaction with urban forests and green space in seven Southeast European cities are presented. The aims of the paper are to analyse 1) citizen perceptions of the current state of urban forests and green space in their cities, 2) to what extent current urban forests and green space meet their needs and how this can be improved. A cross-sectional study was conducted by using a common face-to-face survey questionnaire. Respondents were selected based on census data though a stratified sampling procedure by taking into account age, gender and city district (n=384 in each city). The results showed that citizens genuinely care for urban forests and green space in their cities, but are not satisfied with their current state. The respondents found issues related to misbehaviour of other users, the presence and quality of facilities, as well as the presence and quality of management or maintenance the most pressing. There were more statistically significant differences than similarities between cities. Socioeconomic variables explained perceptions only to some extent. Citizens were very supportive of educational campaigns about the importance of urban forests and green space as well as of better enforcement of the existing regulations though having more community wardens that were expected to tackle current unsatisfactory situations. Urban planning and urban forest and green space management in these cities are facing many problems characteristic for post-socialist countries. Study findings are expected to contribute to decision making in urban planning and natural resource management.

Urban indicators for UK butterflies

Most people live in urban environments and there is a need to produce abundance indices to assist policy and management of urban greenspaces and gardens. While regional indices are produced, with the exception of birds, studies of the differences between urban and rural areas are rare. We explore these differences for UK butterflies, with the intention to describe changes that are relevant to people living in urban areas, in order to better connect people with nature in support of conservation, provide a measure relevant to human well-being, and assess the biodiversity status of the urban environment.Transects walked under the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme are classified as urban or rural, using a classification for urban morphological zones. We use models from the Generalised Abundance Index family to produce urban and rural indices of relative abundance for UK butterfly species. Composite indices are constructed for various subsets of species. For univoltine and bivoltine species, where we are able to fit phenomenological models, we estimate measures of phenology and identify urban/rural differences. Trends in relative abundance over the period 1995–2014 are more negative in urban areas compared to rural areas for 25 out of 28 species. For the composite indices, all trends are negative, and they are significantly more negative for urban areas than for rural areas. Analysis of phenological parameters shows butterflies tend to emerge earlier in urban than in rural areas. In addition, some fly longer in urban than in rural areas, whereas in other cases the opposite is the case, and hypotheses are proposed to account for these features.Investigating new urban/rural indicators has revealed national declines that are stronger for urban areas. For continued monitoring, there is a need for an urban butterfly indicator, and for this to be evaluated and reported annually. We explain how this may be interpreted, and the relevance for other monitoring schemes. The results of this paper, including the phenological findings, shed new light on the potentially deleterious effects of urbanisation and climate change, which require suitable monitoring and reporting to support policy and management, for example of urban greenspaces and gardens.

四个可持续发展实验区绿地系统可达性比较研究

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 四个可持续发展实验区绿地系统可达性比较研究 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201602120271 作者: 作者单位: 中国科学院生态环境研究中心 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家"十二五"科技支撑计划项目（2013BAJ04B03）；城市与区域生态国家重点实验室自主项目（SKLURE2013-1-05） A comparative study of green system accessibility in four sustainable development experimental zones Author: Affiliation: Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy Sciences Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:我国可持续发展实验区所在城市均十分重视绿地系统对其可持续发展的重要支撑作用。布局合理的城市绿地系统不但能提高城市生态空间容量，也能充分满足不同位置城市居民的需求，这使得城市绿地与其被服务对象——城市居民之间的可达性成为评价城市绿地系统服务价值的重要指标。以高德公司生产的电子导航地图中居民区点和绿地系统数据为基础，采用GIS缓冲区分析法，分别探讨了我国4个有代表性的国家可持续发展实验区西城区、石景山区、绍兴市和日照市这4个城市的城市绿地系统斑块特征，以及 < 5， 5-15， 15-30min时间距离内所覆盖城市居民点数量，对其绿地可达性及其服务能力进行比较分析和研究。研究结果表明：4个可持续发展实验区内的绿地系统分布均比较合理，覆盖面广，尤其是30min时间距离内可达的绿地满足了95%的住区；80%以上的住区居民可以在15min内到达周边任意绿地，为城市绿地管理部门打造"一刻钟生活圈"提供了良好的基础。但同时也发现，提供服务的绿地斑块面积比较细碎，大型绿地的配置率相对较低；而且多数绿地斑块从属于多个时间距离半径内，承受较大人口压力。最后，建议城市规划过程中，注重绿地系统与住区从时间尺度上的协调分析。此外，尝试性地采用日常生活中普遍使用的电子导航地图开展城市绿地系统可达性分析，研究结果与城市居民的生产生活密切相关，对城市绿地系统规划具有实际指导意义。 Abstract:Cities located in sustainable development experimental districts value the vital supporting role played by their corresponding green space systems. A rational layout of an urban green space system can increase the urban ecological space capacity and meet the various demands of populations in different locations. Citizens are an important indicator for evaluating the success of an urban green space system. This study used residential points and green space systems in electronic navigation maps produced by and the GIS buffer analysis method to analyze the patch characteristics of urban green space systems in the four representative national sustainable development experimental districts. These were-Xicheng district, Shijingshan district, Shaoxing City, and Rizhao City. In addition, a comparative analysis of the amount of people within different time distances from green spaces (< 5 min, 5-15 min, and 15-30 min) in urban residential districts was used to assess green space accessibility and service ability. The results showed that the distributions of the green space systems in the four sustainable development experimental districts were reasonable and that they were widely accessible, especially with regards to people who lived within 30 min of green space, which covered 95% of the local residents. More than 80% of the residents could reach any nearby green space within 15 min, which provided a good foundation on which the urban green space management department could build "a quarter of an hour life circle." However, at the same time, we found that the green spaces providing services were dispersed and small and that large green space areas were limited. Most of the green areas within the different time/distance radii were subject to higher population pressures. The results from this investigation suggest that urban planning processes should consider the time/distance factor for residents when planning a green space system. In addition, this study used electronic navigation maps, which are widely available, to analyze urban green space system accessibility. The results of this study are relevant to areas where urban residents were living and working, which will have practical significance when planning an urban green space system. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Community Participation in Urban Planning: the Case of Managing Green Spaces in Kumasi, Ghana

The entrenched position now taken by participatory planning in urban planning practice has made the call for community participation in the planning process now higher than ever. Community participation has been well-acknowledged to give local people a voice in planning decisions. This paper assessed the level of participation by local people in the management of urban green spaces. Using a case study research approach, Kumasi city, once the garden city of Africa was selected as the study area. The Kumasi city authorities, and residents including opinion leaders, and officials of allied bodies on green spaces constituted the study’s target population. A blend of qualitative research techniques such as in-depth interviews, focus group discussion, and personal observation was employed whilst theoretical sampling technique was adopted. It was found out that the participation of the local people in the management of green space was low. The local people were neither consulted nor informed on green space projects (parks and gardens) by the city authorities. They were also not empowered to self-facilitate initiatives on green spaces and passively involved in final decisions on green spaces. To correct the situation, it is recommended that features of the communicative planning theory such as dialogue, consensus building, and facilitative leadership should be given attention in the urban planning system of Kumasi especially on green space projects.

Ecosystem services and urban greenways: What's the public's perspective?

Ecosystem services (ES) are an important tool for quantifying the value of nature, yet there are often disconnects between services defined and measured by scientists and those that are realized and appreciated by the general public. Our study explored public perceptions of urban ES by examining benefits associated with greenways in two U.S. cities. Respondents (n =460) recognized all types of ES, though environmental benefits (e.g., air and water quality regulation; acknowledged by 74% of respondents) were less widely recognized than cultural benefits (e.g., economic impacts, social connectivity; 90%) or experiential benefits (e.g., attractive scenery, recreation; 98%). The distinction between these last two categories is rarely made in conventional ES frameworks, but it may be practically significant from the public's perspective. Benefit perceptions varied across geographic and socio-demographic contexts. Enhanced integration of cultural and experiential benefits into urban ES frameworks could lead to more equitable and informed decisions about the provision, management, and valuation of urban green space across diverse settings and populations.

A conceptual model for identifying the risk susceptibility of urban green spaces using geo-spatial techniques

Urban green spaces are often regarded as the harbinger of sustainability in the rapidly urbanizing world. This study forwards a conceptual framework towards urban green space (UGS) management by the quantification of risk susceptibility of the UGS at a neighborhood level by using remote sensing data and geo-spatial techniques. Objective measure of the UGS was performed using weighted evaluation of NDVI data at a 20 m × 20 m grid over the city of Kolkata. The normalized green index (NGI) was developed to quantify the implication of the built-up spaces in UGS risk susceptibility in the urban fabric. Both the satellite image data and the NGI values were spatially auto-correlated using bivariate Moran’s I to derive the intricate relationship between built-up area and green spaces using LISA. It was observed that the low green-spaces were greatly influenced by the high built-up area around it. This inference was extended on the Kolkata’s grid, the results revealed that the older part of the city had the most risk susceptible zones, whereas the area surrounded by wetlands were the most stable region bearing high resilience to urbanization. Hence, by determining the most risky zones for UGS degradation, planners and policy makers can efficiently allocate resources towards the sustainable development of the city by conserving and promoting UGS.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of urban green spaces and human-wildlife conflicts in Tokyo.

Although urban green spaces are increasingly important both for humans and wildlife, an increase in urban green spaces may also increase human–wildlife conflicts in urban areas. However, few studies have examined the relationship between the size of green spaces and the level of conflicts with wildlife in multiple taxa, including invertebrates and vertebrates. To better understand current pest statistics and predict changes that will occur as the area of green spaces increases, we analysed a dataset compiling the number of pest consultations in 53 metropolitan districts in Tokyo over a 20-year period and its relationships with the area of green space. Stinging insects (e.g., wasps) made up over 50% of pest consultations, followed (in order) by rats and other nuisance animals (e.g., snakes). The number of consultations per unit population did not correlate, or was even negatively correlated, with the proportions of green spaces (mainly forest) for many indoor pests, but did positively correlate for some outdoor pests, such as wasps and snakes. Therefore, wasps and snakes can increase when urban green spaces increase. Because even minor nuisances are relevant for urban lifestyles, considerations of ways to minimise conflicts with wildlife are critical for urban green space management.

Appraisal of social-ecological innovation as an adaptive response by stakeholders to local conditions: Mapping stakeholder involvement in horticulture orientated green space management

Urban areas are hubs of creativity and innovation providing fertile ground for novel responses to modern environmental challenges. Previous studies have attempted to conceptualise the ecological, social and political potential of social-ecological innovation in urban green space management. However, little work has been conducted on the social-ecological conditions influencing their occurrence and distribution. Further research is therefore necessary to demonstrate whether stakeholder stewardship of green resources contributes towards adaptive capacity in social-ecological systems. The research reported here explored the extent of organised social-ecological innovations in a continuous urban landscape comprising three adjoining metropolitan areas: Manchester, Salford and Trafford (UK). Examples of horticulture orientated organised social-ecological innovation were identified using a snowball-sampling method. Their distribution, explored with GIS and remote sensing technology, was found to be significantly associated with levels of both, social and ecological, deprivation. The study presented social-ecological innovation as an adaptive response to environmental stressors, conditioned by specific social and ecological parameters in the landscape. It therefore provides empirical support for social-ecological innovation as a valid ingredient contributing to resilience in adaptive social-ecological systems. Not only do such collective community-led elements of natural resource management warrant acknowledgement in urban green space planning, but their distribution and productivity may provide a valuable social-ecological laboratory for the study of polycentric governance and adaptive capacity in the urban environment.

Effects of road dust on the growth characteristics of Sophora japonica L. seedlings

Road dust is one of the most common pollutants and causes a series of negative effects on plant physiology. Dust's impacts on plants can be regarded as a combination of load, composition and grain size impacts on plants; however, there is a lack of integrated dust effect studies involving these three aspects. In our study, Sophora japonica seedlings were artificially dusted with road dust collected from the road surface of Beijing so that we could study the impacts of this dust on nitrogen/carbon allocation, biomass allocation and photosynthetic pigments from the three aspects of composition, load and grain size. The results showed that the growth characteristics of S. japonica seedlings were mostly influenced by dust composition and load. Leaf N, root–shoot ratio and chlorophyll a/b were significantly affected by dust composition and load; leaf C/N, shoot biomass, total chlorophyll and carotenoid were significantly affected by dust load; stem N and stem C/N were significantly affected by dust composition; while the dust grain size alone did not affect any of the growth characteristics. Road dust did influence the growth characteristics more extensively than loam. Therefore, a higher dust load could increase the differences between road dust and loam treatments. The elements in dust are well correlated to the shoot N, shoot C/N, and root–shoot ratio of S. japonica seedlings. This knowledge could benefit the management of urban green spaces.

Social-ecological innovation: adaptive responses to urban environmental conditions

Novel approaches to natural resource management, particularly those which promote stakeholder participation, have been put forward as fundamental ingredients for establishing resilient, polycentric forms of environmental governance. This is nowhere more pertinent than in the case of the complex adaptive systems associated with urban areas. Decentralisation of urban green space management has been posited as an element thereof which, according to resilience thinking, should contribute to the adaptive capacity of cities and the ecosystem services upon which they rely. Implicit in this move towards increased adaptive capacity is the ability to manage through innovation. Although the importance of innovation towards system adaptability has been acknowledged, little work has thus far been carried out which demonstrates that innovative use of urban green space represents a form of adaptive response to environmental conditions. The current paper reports on research which maps examples of organised social-ecological innovation (OSEI) in an urban study area and evaluates them as adaptive responses to local environmental conditions which may contribute to system resilience. The results present OSEI as a coherent body of responses to local social and environmental deprivation, exhibiting diversity and adaptability according to individual contexts. The study therefore provides evidence for the importance of local stakeholder-led innovation as in the building of adaptive capacity in urban social-ecological systems.

Urban green space recreational service assessment and management: A conceptual model based on the service generation process

The current understanding of urban green space (UGS) recreational service is limited due to the lack of being examined under the logic that underlies the ecosystem service paradigm, leading to limitations in the application of ecosystem based management in urban land use planning. This paper offers a conceptual model of UGS recreational service that follows the logical flow of ecosystem service generation, supplementing the knowledge gap and supporting the use of ecosystem base management in urban land use planning. The model includes four categories; UGS features, population characteristics, recreational use behavior, and recreational benefits while considering the use behavior as the service carrier. A process analysis shows the role of each model component in generating the services, and highlights the important role of regulating service potentials and their mobilization. Ways of informing interventions for improving efficiency or equity have been suggested. Efficiency can be assessed by applying the dose–response mechanism in the model. Equity on the other hand, can be measured by exploring which predictors of use are dominant, which advances UGS access assessment by shifting from the spatial-based to the use-based. Survey design techniques and indicators measuring various variables of the model have also been proposed.

User participation in urban green commons: Exploring the links between access, voluntarism, biodiversity and well being

Polycentric governance and stakeholder participation in natural resource management have potential benefits for both human and environmental well-being. Researchers and decision-makers have attempted to conceptualise the ecological, social and political potential of such semi-formal approaches to urban green space management. However, few studies have quantified the actual benefits in terms of biodiversity and associated ecosystem service provision, or the factors that mediate levels of participation. The links between biodiversity potential, site access and user participation were explored in a case study comprising ten established examples of organised social–ecological initiatives in the inner-city area of Greater Manchester. At the micro-scale, the case study quantified the levels of community involvement (measured in volunteer hours month−1) in local green commons and the biodiversity potential (assessed using floristic and structural diversity as a surrogate) of the ten sites. Descriptive analysis identified that site spatial and design characteristics affected all three measures and subsequent correlational analyses revealed a high degree of synergy between site use and biodiversity. The study thereby provides quantitative evidence of the synergistic relationship between green space use and urban biodiversity and, importantly, the positive feedbacks which should result between volunteer input and the local generation of ecosystem services. The study provides support for the promotion of a highly decentralised, stakeholder-led stewardship of green space as a valid consideration in the management of urban ecosystem services.