Heterogeneous urban green areas are bird diversity hotspots: insights using continental-scale citizen science data

Understanding and explaining the use of green spaces and forests is challenging for sustainable urban planning. In recent years there has been increasing demand for novel approaches to investigate urban green infrastructure by capitalizing on large databases from existing citizen science tools. In this study, we analyzed iNaturalist data to perform an assessment of the intentional use of these urban spaces for their value and to understand the main drivers. We retrieved the total number of observations obtained across a set of 672 European cities and focused on reporting from mapped green areas and forests. We used two separate multivariate explanatory models to investigate which factors explained variations in the number of observations for green areas and forests. We found a relatively heterogeneous use of these two urban green spaces. Gross domestic product was important in explaining the number of visits. Availability and accessibility also had positive relationships with the use of green areas and forests in cities, respectively. This study paves the way for better integration of citizen science data in assessing cultural services provided by urban green infrastructure and therefore in supporting the evaluation of spatial planning policies for the sustainable development of urban areas.

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ASSESSMENT OF THE FUNCTIONAL STATE OF GREEN PLANTINGS AND THE ACCUMULATION OF HEAVY METALS BY VEGETATION IN URBAN GREEN AREAS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES

Сибирский экологический журнал ◽

10.15372/sej20190510 ◽

2019 ◽

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Functional State ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Areas ◽

Green Areas

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The Socioeconomic Welfare of Urban Green Areas and Parks; A Literature Review of Available Evidence

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13147863 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (14) ◽

pp. 7863

Author(s):

Antonios Kolimenakis ◽

Alexandra D. Solomou ◽

Nikolaos Proutsos ◽

Evangelia V. Avramidou ◽

Evangelia Korakaki ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Literature Review ◽

Urban Policy ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Future Research ◽

Natural Environments ◽

Exclusion Criteria ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces ◽

Urban Green Areas ◽

Green Areas

Urban green areas present a lucid example for the harmonious co-existence of the artificial and natural environments best illustrated by their interdependence and interconnection in urban spaces. Urban green areas are essential for the health and wellbeing of citizens. The present study aimed to investigate those multiple benefits for citizens that arise through the existence of urban green areas, as well as important policy dimensions that should be considered when designing the expansion of urban green spaces in urban development. The study was based on a literature review to examine for available evidence on the benefit levels derived by the existence of urban green areas. An extended literature review was followed by a structured review, based on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, which partly followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The search was conducted in two databases, and a total of 1674 articles and abstracts were identified through the database searches. After removing 114 duplicates, 1560 records were initially screened based on title and abstract. Following inclusion and exclusion criteria, 14 articles were incorporated in the structured review and a total of 47 in the extended review. The extended literature review identified 33 additional articles examining aspects of benefits that did not fall under the pre-established inclusion and exclusion criteria used in the structured review, such as health benefits and other social parameters associated with urban green spaces. The selected studies were allocated in five principal groups according to study types: three of the them consisted of studies employing “willingness to pay” (WTP) methods, five were based on property values, two studies assigned monetary values, while another two assigned CO2 values, and, finally, two studies were based on qualitative criteria. The results indicated benefits to citizens and increased welfare levels gained by the existence of urban green areas. The conducted review revealed a number of findings and recommendations that could direct future research and urban policy. Those hints could assist local authorities as well as stakeholders in order to measure and assess the benefits of green spaces and urban parks and promote measures and programs to assist their further deployment.

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Urban green areas retain just a small fraction of tree reproductive diversity of the Atlantic forest

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening ◽

10.1016/j.ufug.2020.126779 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 54 ◽

pp. 126779 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Marcela T.P. Oliveira ◽

Jéssica L.S. Silva ◽

Oswaldo Cruz-Neto ◽

Laís A. Borges ◽

Luciana C. Girão ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atlantic Forest ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Areas ◽

Green Areas

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Cities, the Urban Green Environment, and Individual Subjective Well-Being: The Case of Milan, Italy

Urban Studies Research ◽

10.1155/2015/137027 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Giorgio Tavano Blessi ◽

Enzo Grossi ◽

Giovanni Pieretti ◽

Guido Ferilli ◽

Alessandra Landi

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Well Being ◽

Spatial Proximity ◽

Independent Effect ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Residential Proximity ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Areas ◽

Green Areas ◽

The Individual

This paper evaluates the independent effect of the spatial proximity of green urban areas upon the individual subjective well-being of the Milan population (Italy). The methodology is based on a survey undertaken in 2010 using a sample of 1,000 of Milan citizens. Univariate and multivariate analyses and GIS localization have been employed in order to rank the major individual well-being determinants and the relationship between citizens and urban green areas. Results show that the residential proximity of citizens to urban green areas seems to have little bearing on individual subjective well-being.

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Simulation of thermal effects of urban green areas on their surrounding areas

Energy and Buildings ◽

10.1016/0378-7788(90)90019-f ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 15 (3-4) ◽

pp. 443-446 ◽

Cited By ~ 76

Author(s):

Tsuyoshi Honjo ◽

Tadashi Takakura

Keyword(s):

Thermal Effects ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Areas ◽

Green Areas ◽

Surrounding Areas

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An index to identify suitable species in urban green areas

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening ◽

10.1016/j.ufug.2016.01.006 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 16 ◽

pp. 43-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Maria Jesus Garcia-Garcia ◽

Alvaro Sánchez-Medina ◽

Eva Alfonso-Corzo ◽

Concepcion Gonzalez Garcia

Keyword(s):

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Areas ◽

Green Areas

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Dynamic evaluation of small urban green areas at local level using GEOBIA

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-10374 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ana-Maria Popa ◽

Diana Andreea Onose ◽

Ionut Cosmin Sandric ◽

Simona Raluca Gradinaru ◽

Athanasios Alexandru Gavrilidis

Keyword(s):

Green Infrastructure ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Local Level ◽

Consumption Pattern ◽

Urbanization Process ◽

Dynamic Evaluation ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Areas ◽

Green Areas

<p>Urban green infrastructure has various benefits known as ecosystem services such as regulating, cultural, provisioning and supporting services. Among the provided benefits there are decrease of air temperature, increasing humidity and mitigating urban heat island as regulating services; human-nature relations as cultural services; improving air quality, carbon sequestration as provisioning services and photosynthesis, nutrient and water cycling as supporting services. The high intensity of the urbanization process across the last decades coupled with weak legislative frameworks resulted both in large areas affected by urban sprawl and densification of the existing urban fabric. Both phenomenon generated loss in open spaces, especially green areas. In the context of the sustainable urbanization promoted by HABITAT Agenda, the knowledge related with the distribution, size and quality of urban green areas represents a priority. The study aim is to identify small urban green areas at local level at different time moments for a dynamic evaluation. We focused on small urban green areas since they are scarcely analysed even if their importance for the urban quality of life Is continuously increasing given the urbanization process. We used satellite imagery acquired by Planet Satellite Constellations, with a spatial resolution of 3.7 m and daily coverage, for extracting green areas. The images were processed using Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) techniques implemented in Esri ArcGIS Pro. The spatial analysis we performed generated information about distribution, surfaces, quality (based on NDVI) and dynamic of small urban green areas. The results are connected with the local level development of the urban areas we analysed, but also with the population consumption pattern for leisure services, housing, transport or other public utilities. The analysis can represent a complementary method for extracting green areas at urban level and can support the data collection for calculating urban sustainability indicators.</p>

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