Quality Of Green Space Research Articles

Construction of Urban Green Space Network in Kashgar City, China

With the new round of western development being pushed forward and territorial spatial planning being put into place, northwest China’s urbanization rate has sped up. Urbanization will inevitably affect the city’s general landscape pattern and features, aggravating the landscape’s fragmentation and destroying the urban ecological environment. That threatens the well-being of the residents and the city’s biodiversity. Urban green space provides a habitat for the creatures in the city, and its connectivity provides corridors. Researchers and planners have developed green space networks to protect urban biodiversity and satisfy urban residents’ needs for recreation and ecologically friendly open space. This study uses RS, GIS, SeNtinel Application Platform (SNAP), and Conefor Sensinode. Applying the landscape connectivity index, least-cost path model, and corridor curvature analysis to identify potential recreation and biodiversity conservation corridors with a reasonable width, identifies good quality green space patches and corridors, or which ones need improvement. The results show that: (1) The patches selected by the possible connectivity index (PC) calculated with a threshold of 100 m in the urban area of Kashgar have higher recreational attributes. (2) There are 24 effective recreational corridors in Kashgar, with a total length of 43.44 km, and 53 effective biodiversity conservation corridors, a total of 78.23 km. Suppose recreational and ecological functions are considered to build a comprehensive green space network. The 50 m recreational corridor is mainly distributed in the center, and the 30 m biodiversity conservation corridor is primarily distributed on edge. (3) We can determine the location of the new green space suitable for protection or development by analyzing the corridor curvature. Through the constructed green space network, we can find that green space planning has severe fragmentation, unfair distribution, and other problems. Based on these issues, optimizing urban green space can promote the connectivity of urban green space. Furthermore, studying the width of corridors suitable for dense urban areas is conducive to protecting urban biodiversity and resident well-being.

A New Urban Greening Scheme Approach: Increasing Quantity and Quality of Urban Green Space

Urban green spaces are perceived as vital urban infrastructure for healing from the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Regarding the limited availability and the high price of land in urban areas, local governments are encouraged to find alternative solutions that are good, appropriate, and fast to achieve the target of 30% green open space in their area. Based on the Green City Development Roadmap by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in 2015, several cities were creatively assessing and determining the components of green open space based on the city’s natural character and stipulated in local regulations. This causes the diversity of existing green open space data in each city which cannot be compared validly. Furthermore, along with technology development in providing more environmentally friendly elements, the term “green open space” is considered to limit improvement efforts in the quantity and quality of urban green spaces. Therefore, this descriptive-qualitative study was conducted to find a new paradigm in defining green open spaces through benchmarking methods based on selected cities’ strategic and practical policies. The study results found the term “green space” in general as a response to the spatial problem that does not limit the function and utilization of the space, such as the condition of being open or closed by a tree canopy, owned by public or private, or furnished with vegetation and/or hardscape elements. However, we consider that implementing this breakthrough idea needs to be supported by related scientific studies and best practices relevant to the environmental context, both ecological, social, and cultural aspects. Consequently, a deeper study in realizing the green space concept needs to be carried out, primarily related to proving that this concept can increase both the quantity and quality of the urban green space.

THE INTEGRATED MODEL DEVELOPMENT FOR ASSESSING URBAN GREEN SPACE QUALITY. A CASE STUDY IN HANOI INNER CITY, VIETNAM

Urban Green Space (UGS) is considered fundamental for the sustainable development of the urban economy. The purpose of this study is to assess the quality of urban green space in the Hanoi inner city using the integration of GIS technology, remote sensing, and AHP model. Sentinel 2-MSI data taken in 2020 were utilized to identify three criteria, namely percentage of green, type of green types, and proximity to green. AHP was used to determine the weighted correlation among parameters based on their importance to this phenomenon. As the result, the quality of UGS was classified into four classes, namely very high-quality green, high-quality green, moderate quality green, and low-quality green. The results showed an imbalance in the quality of green space in the study area. In which, areas with high and very high-quality green were distributed mainly on the edge of the city center, accounting for 41% while low quality urban green space was found in the center with 22.4 %.

The importance of ecological quality of public green and blue spaces for subjective well-being

Background and aim There is now considerable evidence that the natural environment provides health and well-being benefits in urban environments. However, little is understood about the role of ecological quality in maximising well-being gains. Methods We examine the relationship between the accessibility of public natural spaces of high ecological quality and two measures of subjective well-being for adults, using the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), a large, longitudinal panel dataset. We then compare this relationship with that found with all Public Open Spaces, regardless of their ecological quality. We use the designation of Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) as an objective indication of high-quality green- or bluespace, and life satisfaction and mental distress as measures of well-being. We use the Areas of Deficiency dataset from Greenspace Information for Greater London CIC (GiGL) to identify residential areas with more than a 1 km walk from a SINC, based on actual walking routes from known access points. Results Postcode-level analysis using regression modelling reveals that living beyond a 1 km walk of a SINC decreases an individual’s life satisfaction by 0.117 points on a scale of 1 to 7. No relationship is found for mental distress. We also do not find any significant relationship between either well-being measure and all Public Open Spaces. Conclusions These findings suggest that the ecological quality of publicly accessible open spaces is important for the well-being of residents in Greater London and highlights the need for improving the provision of, and access to, high-quality green- and bluespaces in urban areas. Keywords Biodiversity; Greenspace; Bluespace; Well-being; BHPS

P08-03 Integrating public health expertise to support green space planning by promoting active lifestyles in Slovenia

Issue/problemTo minimize public health risks and promote HEPA among citizens, an integrated approach between public health experts and spatial planning is much needed. However, cross-sectoral cooperation is very demanding and needs harmonization of concepts and professional terms to reach mutual understanding.Description of the problemIn 2017 the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia launched the programme entitled Expert Basis for Spatial Planning of Green Areas, aimed at HEPA promotion for citizens. It was co-financed by the Ministry of Health and based on the objectives in the National Programme on Nutrition and Health Enhancing Physical Activity 2015-2025 and the Strategy of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Children and Youth Environmental Health 2012-2020. Its purpose is to expertly support the planning and development of towns/settlements in Slovenia for better quality of life and direct it for active and healthy lifestyles of citizens of all ages and social groups. To properly address all relevant issues, cooperation with the National Institute of Public Health was established.Results (effects/changes)The programme contained multidisciplinary collaboration in a form of consultation workshops and an expert review of the programme publication named Going Out for Health: A green space planning manual to promote physical activity and a healthy lifestyle. The emphasis was on supporting spatial planning issues on quality of green spaces with basic objectives of public health perspectives. The guide is the first example of linking public health promotion approaches and quality aspects of green space planning and design in Slovenia. It contains general guidelines for the planning of green areas aimed at promoting HEPA, expert materials to support municipalities in devising relevant approaches, and decision-making in order to provide useful and attractive green areas.LessonsThe aspects of green area spatial planning aimed at promoting HEPA are diverse and closely interconnected. The programme and its manual reflect a good cooperation example between spatial planning and public health experts.Main messagesA good collaboration between urban planners and public health professionals is crucial to prepare useful guidelines for spatial planners and municipality decision-makers on green space planning for HEPA promotion.

Evaluation of urban green space per capita with new remote sensing and geographic information system techniques and the importance of urban green space during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A recently conducted study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encouraged access to urban green space for the public over the prevalence of COVID-19 in that exposure to urban green space can positively affect the physical and mental health, including the reduction rate of heart disease, obesity, stress, stroke, and depression. COVID-19 has foregrounded the inadequacy of green space in populated cities. It has also highlighted the extant inequities so as to unequal access to urban green space both quantitatively and qualitatively. In this regard, it seems that one of the problems related to Malatya is the uncoordinated distribution of green space in different parts of the city. Therefore, knowing the quantity and quality of these spaces in each region can play an effective role in urban planning. The aim of the present study has been to evaluate urban green space per capita and to investigate its distribution based on the population of the districts of Battalgazi county in Malatya city through developing an integrated methodology (remote sensing and geographic information system). Accordingly, in Google Earth Engine by images of Sentinel-1 and PlanetScope satellites, it was calculated different indexes (NDVI, EVI, PSSR, GNDVI, and NDWI). The data set was prepared and then by combining different data, classification was performed according to support vector machine algorithm. From the landscaping maps obtained, the map was selected with the highest accuracy (overall accuracy: 94.43; and kappa coefficient: 90.5). Finally, by the obtained last map, the distribution of urban green space per capita and their functions in Battalgazi county and its districts were evaluated. The results of the study showed that the existing urban green spaces in the Battalgazi/Malatya were not distributed evenly on the basis of the districts. The per capita of urban green space is twenty-four regions which is more than 9m2 and in twenty-three ones is less than 9m2. The recommendation of this study was that Türkiye city planners and landscape designers should replan and redesign the quality and equal distribution of urban green spaces, especially during and following COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, drawing on the Google Earth Engine cloud system, which has revolutionized GIS and remote sensing, is recommended to be used in land use land cover modeling. It is straightforward to access information and analyze them quickly in Google Earth Engine. The published codes in this study makes it possible to conduct further relevant studies.

Fine-scale monitoring and mapping of biodiversity and ecosystem services reveals multiple synergies and few tradeoffs in urban green space management

Urban watersheds can play a critical role in supporting biodiversity and ecosystem services in a rapidly changing world. However, managing for multiple environmental and social objectives in urban landscapes is challenging, especially if the optimization of one ecosystem service conflicts with another. Urban ecology research has frequently been limited to a few indicators – typically either biodiversity or ecosystem service indices – making tradeoffs and synergies difficult to assess. Through a recently established watershed-scale monitoring network in Central Texas, we address this gap by evaluating biodiversity (flora and fauna), habitat quality, and ecosystem service indices of urban green spaces across the watershed. Our results reveal substantial heterogeneity in biodiversity and ecosystem service levels and multiple synergies (stacked benefits or “win-wins”). For example, we found that carbon sequestration positively correlated with tree species richness and the proportion of native trees in a green space, indicating that biodiversity goals for increased tree diversity can also provide carbon sequestration benefits. We also documented correlations between green spaces with greater riparian forest cover and lower particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations and cooler temperatures. In addition, we found that bee and wasp species richness was positively correlated with carbon sequestration and human visitation rates, meaning that urban green spaces can optimize carbon sequestration goals without losing pollinator habitat or access opportunities for city residents. Overall, our results indicate that many aspects of habitat quality, biodiversity, and ecosystem services can be simultaneously supported in urban green spaces. We conclude that urban design and management can optimize nature-based solutions and strategies to have distinct positive impacts on both people and nature.

Urban residents value multi-functional urban greenspaces

Urban greenspaces are multifunctional spaces, providing services to people and biodiversity. With space in urban areas being limited creation and maintenance of urban greenspaces relies on understanding the preferences of urban residents for their characteristics. Such preferences are expected to vary with current availability, and the availability of alternatives to greenspaces such as gardens or gyms. We carried out a nationwide discrete choice experiment with Scottish urban residents to estimate values associated with greenspace attributes of: recreational features; plants and natural features; trees; accessibility; time to walk from home and size, to test the hypotheses that: (i) people are willing to pay to maintain greenspace, (ii) people have willingness to pay for greenspaces with multiple functions, including features for direct use (e.g. play equipment) and biodiversity (e.g. wildflowers), (iii) willingness to pay for individual greenspace will vary according to socioeconomic characteristics and (iv) vary with the amount of greenspace or substitute facilities available. We find a positive willingness to pay to maintain greenspace in general, and higher willingness to pay for larger greenspaces closer to home, which are multifunctional and contain both direct use features (e.g. children’s play park) and biodiversity features. Although we find significant heterogeneity in willingness to pay for maintaining greenspace, this is not well explained by either socioeconomic characteristics or the availability of substitute facilities. Our results have relevance for urban natural capital accounting, and demonstrate to urban planners the importance of the design and maintenance of multi-functional greenspaces for urban populations and would benefit from future research that further explores heterogeneity, including perceptions of greenspace access and substitutes, and greenspace quality.

Analyzing spatial inequalities in use and experience of urban green spaces

As cities become more densely populated, urban green spaces (UGS) are increasingly important due to the environmental and social benefits they provide. Cities are confronted with the challenge of equitable supply of high-quality urban green that meets the demand of residents. This is particularly relevant in lower-income neighborhoods, which tend to suffer from the lowest supply of (high quality) UGS. In this paper, we perform spatial analysis on the responses of an online user survey to explore how UGS frequency of use, choice, and satisfaction differ by use pattern and place of residence in the Brussels Capital Region. Additionally, we identify the “push-pull” factors of individual UGS by identifying the desirable (pull) and undesirable (push) qualities that may attract or repel the use of a UGS. We find that use pattern is related to choice and experience of UGS. Compared to people who use UGS for social purposes, those who use UGS for nature-oriented reasons more often choose to visit UGS that are substantially farther from their home but are more often satisfied with the UGS they use. Our findings also show that respondents living in areas with higher proportions of disadvantaged groups tend to travel substantially farther to reach their UGS and are more often dissatisfied with the UGS they visit. Finally, our push-pull analysis indicates that characteristics that are important to nature-oriented users, such as quietness and calmness, are often more negatively experienced in dense city center UGS. Our research thus demonstrates the need to bring more green, particularly green that elicits a feeling of “naturalness”, to areas of the city where low green space quality and quantity overlap with areas inhabited by vulnerable populations.

The importance of ecological quality of public green and blue spaces for subjective well-being

There is now considerable evidence that the natural environment provides health and well-being benefits in urban environments. However, little is understood about the role of ecological quality in maximising well-being gains. We examine the relationship between the accessibility of public natural spaces of high ecological quality and two measures of subjective well-being for adults, using the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), a large, longitudinal panel dataset. We then compare this relationship with that found with all Public Open Spaces, regardless of their ecological quality. We use the designation of Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) as an objective indication of high-quality green- or bluespace, and life satisfaction and mental distress as measures of well-being. We use the Areas of Deficiency dataset from Greenspace Information for Greater London CIC (GiGL) to identify residential areas with more than a 1 km walk from a SINC, based on actual walking routes from known access points. Postcode-level analysis using regression modelling reveals that living beyond a 1 km walk of a SINC decreases an individual’s life satisfaction by 0.117 points on a scale of 1 to 7. No relationship is found for mental distress. We also do not find any significant relationship between either well-being measure and all Public Open Spaces. These findings suggest that the ecological quality of publicly accessible open spaces is important for the well-being of residents in Greater London and highlights the need for improving the provision of high-quality green- and bluespaces in urban areas.

ĐÁNH GIÁ SỰ BIẾN ĐỘNG KHÔNG GIAN XANH TẠI HUYỆN MỘC CHÂU TỈNH SƠN LA GIAI ĐOẠN 2005 – 2021 BẰNG CHỈ SỐ THỰC VẬT KHÁC BIỆT CHUẨN HÓA (NDVI)

Green space is an integral part of ecotourism, it is also an important indicator f sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to assess the change in green space quality using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in the period 2005 - 2021 in Moc Chau district, Son La. Four satellite images including 2 Landsat 5 images and 2 Landsat 8 images taken in 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2021 are used to determine the NDVI value. The green space map is then classified into four classes based on the corresponding value ranges, namely, areas with non-green, low green, moderate green, and dense green. The results show a rapid decrease in areas with dense green while non-green areas and low green areas tend to increase rapidly in the past 16 years (2005 - 2021). This result is considered an important basis in the management and planning of sustainable development in the study area.

The challenges of implementing green factors in urban greening schemes in Indonesia

Recently, new planning tools have emerged to support urban landscape planners in achieving sustainability through optimizing the urban greening scheme. Some cities have approved the green factor tool to increase the quantity and quality of urban green spaces. This greening scheme is considered suitable for a relatively dense city where challenging to provide adequate urban green areas. This short communication challenges the usefulness of the green factor tool and how it relates to the existing urban green space planning procedures through a qualitative case study in Jakarta, Indonesia. The result shows that while the green factor tool performs well, improvements could be made primarily in convincing stakeholders regarding the new paradigm in calculating green areas in relatively dense urban areas. Furthermore, trials in actual cases need to be carried out to examine the formula’s effectiveness. Regarding the usefulness of this tool, we conclude that while increasing the number of green areas, improving its quality is more necessary to build resilient infrastructures.

Neighbourhood greenspace quantity, quality and socioeconomic inequalities in mental health

There is tentative evidence suggesting that socioeconomically disadvantaged groups may benefit more from access to neighbourhood greenspace and therefore could be a lever for narrowing socioeconomic inequalities (‘equigenesis’) in mental health, although studies are equivocal. One potential explanation for this inconsistency is differences in study designs, particularly how greenspace is measured. Most previous studies are from high income countries, and there has been no investigations into equigenic environments in China. Using survey data collected from 26 neighbourhoods in Guangzhou, China, this study examines whether local greenspaces may narrow socioeconomic inequalities in health (i.e. equigenesis) in the Chinese context. The study is the first to explore the contribution of greenspace in reducing socioeconomic inequalities in mental health in the Chinese context. It uses Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Street View Greenness (SVG) and self-reported neighbourhood greenness quality as estimates of residential greenness exposure Results show that SVG-quantity, SVG-quality and self-reported greenspace quality narrow the neighbourhood socioeconomic inequalities in mental health. Our findings demonstrate the importance of improving equity in local green infrastructure for promoting health equity through urban planning and design, including improving access to green spaces, and providing more street trees in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

Perceived Qualities, Visitation and Felt Benefits of Preferred Nature Spaces during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia: A Nationally-Representative Cross-Sectional Study of 2940 Adults

We investigated how the perceived quality of natural spaces influenced levels of visitation and felt benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia via a nationally representative online and telephone survey conducted on 12–26 October (Social Research Centre’s Life in AustraliaTM panel aged > 18 years, 78.8% response, n = 3043). Our sample was restricted to those with complete information (n = 2940). Likert scale responses to 18 statements regarding the quality of local natural spaces that participants preferred to visit were classified into eight quality domains: access; aesthetics; amenities; facilities; incivilities; potential usage; safety; and social. These domains were then summed into an overall nature quality score (mean = 5.8, range = 0–16). Associations between these quality variables and a range of nature visitation and felt benefits were tested using weighted multilevel models, adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic confounders. Compared with participants in the lowest perceived nature quality quintile, those in the highest quality quintile had higher odds of spending at least 2 h in their preferred local nature space in the past week (Odds Ratio [OR] = 3.40; 95% Confidence Interval [95%CI] = 2.38–4.86), of visiting their preferred nature space almost every day in the past four weeks (OR = 3.90; 2.77–5.47), and of reporting increased levels of nature visitation in comparison with before the COVID-19 pandemic (OR = 3.90; 2.54–6.00). Participants in the highest versus lowest perceived nature quality quintile also reported higher odds of feeling their visits to nature enabled them to take solace and respite during the pandemic (OR = 9.49; 6.73–13.39), to keep connected with their communities (OR = 5.30; 3.46–8.11), and to exercise more often than they did before the pandemic (OR = 3.88; 2.57–5.86). Further analyses of each quality domain indicated time in and frequency of visiting nature spaces were most affected by potential usage and safety (time in nature was also influenced by the level of amenity). Feelings of connection and solace were most affected by potential usage and social domains. Exercise was most influenced by potential usage, social and access domains. In conclusion, evidence reported in this study indicates that visits to nature and various health-related benefits associated with it during the COVID-19 pandemic were highly contingent upon numerous qualities of green and blue spaces.

Effects of Landscape Types and Complexity Along Path on Mental Restoration.

This study checked the effects of landscape types and complexity along path in urban green spaces on perceived restorativeness, so as to provide guidance for path landscape design. Paths in urban green spaces are not only the connections between places but also places for visitors reducing mental stress and seeking psychological well-being. However, there is a lack of evidence-based research on the effects of landscape composition along the path on restorative quality, failing to provide a cohesive guideline for practice. Fourteen videos representing the popular path landscapes in urban green spaces were produced using computer software by adding or/and deleting elements and controlling environmental components. The restorative quality of these videos was measured by Short-version Revised Restoration Scale (SRRS). Statistical analysis was employed to treat the data and checked the effects of different landscape types and complexity on restorative quality. (1) A significant difference in restorative quality between 14 path landscapes was found, comparatively, the path containing lawn or(and) forest was much better than that containing bamboo and waterscape, and bamboo was a negative predictor of restorative quality; (2) waterscape generally reduced the restorative quality of vegetated path landscape, especially when the landscape possessed higher restorative quality; (3) path landscape complexity had a weak influence on restorative quality. This study explains how path landscapes affect mental restoration of users, and these findings contribute to enhancing the restorative quality of urban green spaces and have applications for path landscape design.

ELDERLY’S FEEDBACK ON THE SERVICE QUALITY OF URBAN GREEN OPEN SPACE IN PENANG AS A CATALYST FOR HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE RESILIENCE

Sustaining health, social involvement, reducing institutionalization, and enhancing the quality of life of the elderly are community health challenges of the 21st era. Elderly citizens may endure numerous health illnesses due to their vulnerability to many physical and mental intrusions. Quality of life in elderly people can be affected by many environmental and physical factors. The quality of life for the elderly is partially and intimately related to their usage of green open space. The usage of this space will directly affect their health and lifestyle resilience. After this, the significance of getting more understanding and feedback about service quality in urban green open spaces is necessary. This research is aimed to study the link between elderly satisfaction and service quality of the urban green open space. Hence, this research aims to examine the catalyst for health and lifestyle resilience. The participants surveyed in this study were elderly people who were living in the surrounding community and come voluntarily to the urban green open space to use and enjoy all the facilities and activities that had been provided. The outcomes from this research deliver a platform for local authorities and developers in Malaysia to understand elderly expectations and behavior and how it affects their health and lifestyle resilience. The understanding is essential for planning and designing more inclusive, comprehensive and agefriendly urban green open space or parks, which should meet the needs, demand and expectations of older adults and encourage them to engage and participate in more activity.

Animals in urban green spaces in relation to mental restorative quality

Despite the important roles that animals play in ecosystems, their functions in urban green spaces are often overlooked. To fill this gap, this study explored the effects of four animal species on the mental restorative quality of urban green spaces by comparing observers’ response to pictures with and without animals. The results indicated that swans, deer, and pigeons which were unthreatening to humans could significantly improve mental restoration of observers, and comparatively, swans had the strongest effect. Conversely, unleashed dogs were a potential threat to humans, and decreased the mental restorative quality of urban green spaces. The mechanism of animals’ effects on mental restoration and the differential effects of four animal species were discussed. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study addressing the mental health impacts of animals in landscapes, and the results suggest that “animal-inclusive landscape design” has a positive impact on urban green spaces.

Association between built environments and weight status: evidence from longitudinal data of 9589 Australian children

BackgroundNo studies appear to examine potential associations between changes in built environments across childhood and the developmental trajectories of child weight status.ObjectiveExamine the developmental trajectories of child weight status with respect to changes in childhood exposure to the built environments.MethodsThis study used data of 9589 children with biennial follow-up (2004–2016), retrieved from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Changes in objectively-measured child weight status (i.e., body mass index-BMI, waist circumference) were investigated in relation to changes in seven built environments (i.e., neighbourhood safety; green space quality; footpaths and street conditions; public transport; shopping facilities; basic services; and local traffic) subjectively reported by caregivers. Group-based discrete trajectory mixture models were used to classify children according to their developmental trajectories of built environments and weight status. Multilevel multinomial logistic regression was employed to examine associations between built environments and child weight status adjusted for confounding.ResultsTwo, four, and six trajectory groups were developed for built environment variables. Three groups namely “moderate”, “high”, and “extreme increase” were generated for each BMI and waist circumference. Findings from multilevel analyses indicated that growing up in neighbourhoods that are considered highly safe, with better quality of green space nearby, and in areas with low local traffic over time are protective against unhealthy weight increase in childhood. Meanwhile, living with better access to shopping facilities and basic services was associated with an unhealthy increase in BMI and/or waist circumference. No clear associations appeared between the quality of footpath and street conditions, access to public transport, and child weight status.ConclusionsBuilt environments might act either as a risk or protective factor of an unhealthy increase in child weight status. Enabling health-promoting neighbourhoods (i.e., highly safe, quality green space nearby, low local traffic) is important to support a healthy weight trajectory across childhood.

Value negotiation and professional self-regulation – Environmental concern in the design of the built environment

Built environment design professionals balance competing requirements for human comfort, aesthetics and ecological integrity in their projects. Among them, landscape designers play an important role in optimising the benefits derived from urban green spaces. This study critically considers value dimensions and domains that impinge on professionals’ decision making and environmental values that are applicable to built environment design. It specifically identifies the dominant group-based value domains and environmental values in local practice and examines how landscape designers determine the relative importance of competing values in urban South Africa. The study made use of semi-structured interviews with long-standing figures in the industry. The findings indicate that the political change, the economy and the varied climate and landscape character are contextual influences that strongly shape regional social constructions of urban nature. These constructions emphasise instrumental utility values that juxtapose fundamental values and overshadow less urgent eudemonistic and intrinsic environmental values. In the design process, designers trade off artistic pursuits for utility values, with implications for aesthetics and quality. The contextual influences undermine value pluralism. Current trade-offs arguably perpetuate a local legacy of the uneven distribution of quality green spaces. Promisingly, designers show environmental concern and value for sustainability, indigenous plants, utility, quality and safety. The potential for designers to strengthen bonds with urban nature lies in the creation of aesthetic experiences that build on existing local affinities to landscape character and indigenous species. Professional bodies have an important task to assist built environment designers in creating cities that preserve human-nature relationships.

Environmental, Health, and Equity Co-benefits in Urban Climate Action Plans: A Descriptive Analysis for 27 C40 Member Cities

Many actions to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) in cities have benefits for environmental quality, public health, and equity. These local and immediate “co-benefits” can include cleaner air, expanded green space, improved physical activity, and reduced noise. However, progress incorporating co-benefits assessments into climate mitigation planning has been limited. Here, we capitalized on the new availability of climate action plans (CAPs) from dozens of C40 cities to explore the stated role of environmental quality, health, and equity in urban GHG mitigation planning. Specifically, we qualitatively reviewed how four topics—equity, exposure to environmental risk factors, health effects of climate change, and health co-benefits of GHG mitigation—were addressed in CAPs from 27 C40 member cities. The cities span Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. We found that more references pertained to exposures (57% of all identified references across the four topics) than to equity (21%), health co-benefits of GHG mitigation (15%), or health effects of climate change (7%). On average across all cities, five exposure categories represented the majority of exposure references: green space (23% of total coded exposure references), disasters (20%), physical activity (24%), heat (16%), and air quality (12%). Approximately two-thirds of health effects and health co-benefits references noted a link with health generally, without specificity to disease or other health outcome. Our results indicate that while environmental quality is commonly considered in CAPs, health effects of climate change and health co-benefits of GHG mitigation are mentioned less frequently. Future work should further develop methods to qualitatively and quantitatively assess health consequences of action and inaction to reduce GHG emissions, using approaches that are appropriate for and accessible to multiple levels of governments.