Spatial disparity patterns of green spaces and buildings in arid urban areas

Biscogniauxia canker or dieback (formerly called Hypoxylon canker or dieback) is a common contributor to poor health and decay in a wide range of tree species (Balbalian & Henn 2014). This disease is caused by several species of fungi in the genus Biscogniauxia (formerly Hypoxylon). B. atropunctata or B. mediterranea are usually the species found on Quercus spp. and other hosts in Florida, affecting trees growing in many different habitats, such as forests, parks, green spaces and urban areas (McBride & Appel, 2009). Typically, species of Biscogniauxia are opportunistic pathogens that do not affect healthy and vigorous trees; some species are more virulent than others. However, once they infect trees under stress (water stress, root disease, soil compaction, construction damage etc.) they can quickly colonize the host. Once a tree is infected and fruiting structures of the fungus are evident, the tree is not likely to survive especially if the infection is in the tree's trunk (Anderson et al., 1995).

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Diversity of organisms

10.1093/oso/9780198827238.003.0005 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Philip James

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Native Species ◽

New Technologies ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Green Spaces ◽

The Common ◽

Living Organisms ◽

Micro Organisms ◽

Diversity Of Life

The focus of this chapter is an examination of the diversity of living organisms found within urban environments, both inside and outside buildings. The discussion commences with prions and viruses before moving on to consider micro-organisms, plants, and animals. Prions and viruses cause disease in plants and animals, including humans. Micro-organisms are ubiquitous and are found in great numbers throughout urban environments. New technologies are providing new insights into their diversity. Plants may be found inside buildings as well as in gardens and other green spaces. The final sections of the chapter offer a discussion of the diversity of animals that live in urban areas for part or all of their life cycle. Examples of the diversity of life in urban environments are presented throughout, including native and non-native species, those that are benign and deadly, and the common and the rare.

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Evaluation of the Equity and Regional Management of Some Urban Green Space Ecosystem Services: A Case Study of Main Urban Area of Xi’an City

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12070813 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 813

Author(s):

Hui Dang ◽

Jing Li ◽

Yumeng Zhang ◽

Zixiang Zhou

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Carbon Sequestration ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Green Space ◽

Well Being ◽

Urban Green Space ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Deposition Flux ◽

Urban Green ◽

Xi’An City

Urban green spaces can provide many types of ecosystem services for residents. An imbalance in the pattern of green spaces leads to an inequality of the benefits of such spaces. Given the current situation of environmental problems and the basic geographical conditions of Xi’an City, this study evaluated and mapped four kinds of ecosystem services from the perspective of equity: biodiversity, carbon sequestration, air purification, and climate regulation. Regionalization with dynamically constrained agglomerative clustering and partitioning (REDCAP) was used to obtain the partition groups of ecosystem services. The results indicate that first, the complexity of the urban green space community is low, and the level of biodiversity needs to be improved. The dry deposition flux of particulate matter (PM2.5) decreases from north to south, and green spaces enhance the adsorption of PM2.5. Carbon sequestration in the south and east is higher than that in the north and west, respectively. The average surface temperature in green spaces is lower than that in other urban areas. Second, urban green space resources in the study area are unevenly distributed. Therefore, ecosystem services in different areas are inequitable. Finally, based on the regionalization of integrated ecosystem services, an ecosystem services cluster was developed. This included 913 grid spaces, 12 partitions, and 5 clusters, which can provide a reference for distinct levels of ecosystem services management. This can assist urban managers who can use these indicators of ecosystem service levels for planning and guiding the overall development pattern of green spaces. The benefits would be a maximization of the ecological functions of green spaces, an improvement of the sustainable development of the city, and an improvement of people’s well-being.

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Socioeconomic Differences in Walking Time of Children and Adolescents to Public Green Spaces in Urban Areas—Results of the German Environmental Survey (2014–2017)

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18052326 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 2326

Author(s):

Julia Rehling ◽

Christiane Bunge ◽

Julia Waldhauer ◽

André Conrad

Keyword(s):

Young People ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Green Space ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Environmental Survey ◽

Urban Green Spaces ◽

Public Green Space ◽

Walking Time

Public green spaces have a high potential for a positive impact on people’s health and wellbeing, especially in urban areas. Studies on environmental justice indicate socially unequal access possibilities to urban green spaces. This article presents results on associations between individual socioeconomic position (SEP) and walking time from home to public green spaces in young people living in urban areas with more than 20,000 inhabitants in Germany. Data were derived from the German Environmental Survey for Children and Adolescents 2014–2017 (GerES V), the environmental module of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS Wave 2). The sample comprises 1149 participants aged 3 to 17 years. A total of 51.5% of the participants reach a public green space on foot within five and 72.8% within ten minutes from home. The lower the participant’s SEP, the longer the walking time. Logistic regression models controlling for age group, sex, migration background, and region of residence show that participants with a low SEP have a significantly higher risk (odds ratio = 1.98; 95% confidence interval: 1.31–2.99) of needing more than ten minutes to walk from home to a public green space than participants with a high SEP. GerES V data indicate that young people living in urban areas in Germany do not equally benefit from the health-promoting potential of green spaces, which is an important aspect of environmental health inequalities.

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A Soundwalk in the heart of Poblenou superblock in Barcelona: Preliminary study of the acoustic events

Noise Mapping ◽

10.1515/noise-2021-0016 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 207-216

Author(s):

Rosa Ma Alsina-Pagès ◽

Gerardo José Ginovart-Panisello ◽

Marc Freixes ◽

Antonella Radicchi

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

City Planning ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Traffic Density ◽

Cultural Economic ◽

Social Exchanges ◽

Interdisciplinary Work ◽

Preliminary Study ◽

New City

Abstract The Poblenou Superblock, in Barcelona, is a crucial element in the development of the new city-planning within the framework of the Superblock (Superilles) concept, whose principal aim is to recover the cultural, economic and social exchanges once produced in streets and squares. People living in urban areas need a lower traffic density, more green spaces and cleaner air in order to restore the previous uses of public spaces in their day-today lives. The urban actions conducted at this Superblock to change its uses were completed about 3 years ago, and neighbours and workers have already taken over the new spaces. In an interdisciplinary work on urban planning and acoustics, we detail the preliminary results of the acoustic events found in the recordings in a soundwalk in the heart of the Poblenou Superblock. Fifteen people evaluate and record sound fragments with the Hush City App application, in order to establish comparisons between the different points of the route, observe the spaces arranged for people and perceive the soundscape. Meanwhile, several acoustic technicians record 5-min long audios in the different stops designed for the soundwalk. The points chosen to make the recordings are very different from each other, some of them in the middle of gardens and others are on pacific streets and finally, we also wanted to include Superblock borders where the traffic is still very present. The results of our study were promising and have encouraged us to further investigate acoustics events in superblocks and include all the perceptual information provided by the Hush City App.

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The prevalence of planning and management frameworks for trees and green spaces in urban areas of South Africa

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening ◽

10.1016/j.ufug.2015.09.012 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 817-825 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

M. Chishaleshale ◽

C.M. Shackleton ◽

J. Gambiza ◽

D. Gumbo

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Planning And Management

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A principal component analysis of the determinants of spatial disparity between rural and urban localities of Ghana

International Journal of Social Economics ◽

10.1108/ijse-11-2015-0315 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 44 (6) ◽

pp. 715-731 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ivy Drafor

Keyword(s):

Principal Component Analysis ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Principal Component ◽

Component Analysis ◽

Spatial Inequality ◽

Necessary Condition ◽

Spatial Disparity ◽

Content Type ◽

Rural And Urban

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the spatial disparity between rural and urban areas in Ghana using the Ghana Living Standards Survey’s (GLSS) rounds 5 and 6 data to advance the assertion that an endowed rural sector is necessary to promote agricultural development in Ghana. This analysis helps us to know the factors that contribute to the depravity of the rural sectors to inform policy towards development targeting. Design/methodology/approach A multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis were applied to data from the GLSS-5 and GLSS-6 to determine the characteristics of the rural-urban divide in Ghana. Findings The findings reveal that the rural poor also spend 60.3 per cent of their income on food, while the urban dwellers spend 49 per cent, which is an indication of food production capacity. They have low access to information technology facilities, have larger household sizes and lower levels of education. Rural areas depend a lot on firewood for cooking and use solar/dry cell energies and kerosene for lighting which have implications for conserving the environment. Practical implications Developing the rural areas to strengthen agricultural growth and productivity is a necessary condition for eliminating spatial disparities and promoting overall economic development in Ghana. Addressing rural deprivation is important for conserving the environment due to its increased use of fuelwood for cooking. Absence of alternatives to the use of fuelwood weakens the efforts to reduce deforestation. Originality/value The application of PCA to show the factors that contribute to spatial inequality in Ghana using the GLSS-5 and GLSS-6 data is unique. The study provides insights into redefining the framework for national poverty reduction efforts.

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Potential of urban green spaces for supporting horticultural production: a national scale analysis

Environmental Research Letters ◽

10.1088/1748-9326/ac4730 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lael E Walsh ◽

Bethan R Mead ◽

Charlotte A Hardman ◽

Daniel Evans ◽

Lingxuan Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Food Production ◽

Food System ◽

Fruit And Vegetables ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Scale Analysis ◽

National Scale ◽

Domestic Production ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces

Abstract As urban areas and land-use constraints grow, there is increasing interest in utilizing urban spaces for food production. Several studies have uncovered significant potential for urban growing to supplement production of fruit and vegetables, focusing on one or two cities as case studies, whilst others have assessed the global scale potential. Here, we provide a national-scale analysis of the horticultural production potential of urban green spaces, which is a relevant scale for agri-food and urban development policy making using Great Britain (GB) as a case study. Urban green spaces available for horticultural production across GB are identified and potential yields quantified based on three production options. The distribution of urban green spaces within 26 urban towns and cities across GB are then examined to understand the productive potential compared to their total extent and populations. Urban green spaces in GB, at their upper limit, have the capacity to support production that is 8x greater than current domestic production of fruit and vegetables. This amounts to 38% of current domestic production and imports combined, or >400% if exotic fruits and vegetables less suited to GB growing conditions are excluded. Most urban green spaces nationally are found to fall within a small number of categories, with private residential gardens and amenity spaces making up the majority of space. By examining towns and cities across GB in further detail, we find that the area of green space does not vary greatly between urban conurbations of different sizes, and all are found to have substantial potential to meet the dietary needs of the local urban population. This study highlights that national policies can be suitably developed to support urban agriculture and that making use of urban green spaces for food production could help to enhance the resilience of the national-scale food system to shocks in import pathways, or disruptions to domestic production and distribution.

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Green Spaces in Residential Areas of Dar es Salaam City: Types, Coverage and Uses

Journal of Sustainable Development ◽

10.5539/jsd.v14n3p121 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 121

Author(s):

Nicholaus Mwageni ◽

Robert Kiunsi

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Green Space ◽

Dar Es Salaam ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Natural Vegetation ◽

Green Spaces ◽

City Centre ◽

Building Density ◽

Dar Es Salaam City ◽

The City

Green spaces in urban areas including in Dar es Salaam City provide multiple ecological, social and economic benefits. Despite their benefits they are inadequately documented in terms types, coverage and uses. This paper attempts to provide information on types, coverage and uses of green space in Dar es Salaam City. A number of methods including literature review, interpretation of remotely sensed image, interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires were used to document city greenery. The research findings show that residential greenery is made up of greenery found within and external to plots. The dominant green spaces external to residential plots were natural and semi natural vegetation while within plots were woody plants, plots farms vegetable and ornamental gardens. Distribution of greenery varied among the wards due to differences in building density and distance from the city centre. Natural and semi natural vegetation increased with decrease of building density and increase of distance from the city centre, while the number of plots with trees for shade increased with increase of building density. Only Kawe ward that had greenery above Tanzania space planning standards, the other three wards which are informal settlements had green space deficit. Three quarters of the households use green spaces for shade provision and cooling, two thirds as a source of food products and a quarter for recreation and aesthetic purposes. The study reveals that Dar es Salaam City residents invest predominantly on shade trees in their residential plots compared to other green space types.

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Making wildlife welcome in urban areas

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.41348 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

Author(s):

Travis Gallo ◽

Mason Fidino

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Wild Animals ◽

Careful Design

Careful design of the green spaces in cities will benefit both wild animals and humans.

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