Green Walls as an Environmental Strategy

2021 ◽  
pp. 294-328
Author(s):  
Pedro Dias Boa Sorte ◽  
Caio Silva ◽  
Abner L. Calixter ◽  
Marta A. B. Romero
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Thermal Performance ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Air Humidity ◽  
Environmental Strategy ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Green Walls

Vegetation is an excellent strategy to tackle global warming and climate change. In this context, the green wall is a kind of green infrastructure that is used as a bioclimatic strategy. Also, it can be used as an approach to insert green areas in an urban context, contributing to urban areas to become more sustainable. This chapter aims to evaluate the thermal performance of green walls using three different native climbing vegetation from the Cerrado biome. Thus, the authors used a computational tool named ENVI-met (v.3) as a method to analyze and evaluate which plants would bring the best performance in terms of improving thermal comfort. The database the authors obtained from the simulations will serve as a comparison of the thermal performance between walls without vegetation cover, as well as clarify the morphological and physiological characteristics that influence its thermal performance. The results demonstrate that Arrabidaea pulchra species enabled green walls with lower temperatures and higher air humidity rate in most situations.

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

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>

scholarly journals Model Cities for Resilience: Climate-led Initiatives

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-58
Author(s):  
Didem Gunes Yilmaz ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Sustainable Cities ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Urban Water Management ◽  
Model Cities ◽  
Taking Action ◽  
Change Mitigation

Paris Agreement of December 2015 was the last official initiative led by the United Nations (UN) as the driver of climate change mitigation. Climate change was hence linked with an increase in the occurrence of natural hazards. A variety of initiatives were consequently adopted under different themes such as sustainable cities, climate-friendly development and low-carbon cities. However, most of the initiatives targeted by global cities with urban areas being the focus in terms of taking action against global warming issues. This is due to the structural and environmental features of cities characterized by being populated, as such, they not only generate a large number of carbon emissions but also happens to be the biggest consumer of natural resources. In turn, they create a microclimate, which contributes to climate change. Masdar City, for example, was designed as the first fully sustainable urban area, which replaced fuel-based energy with the electric-based energy. China, as another example, introduced the Sponge Cities action, a method of urban water management to mitigate against flooding. Consequently, architects and urban planners are urged to conform to the proposals that would mitigate global warming. This paper, as a result, examines some of the models that have been internationally adopted and thereafter provide the recommendations that can be implemented in large urban areas in Turkey, primarily in Istanbul.

scholarly journals Urban Green Infrastructure Framework for Housing Climate Resilience

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fahmyddin Araaf Tauhid
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Climate Impact ◽  
Urban Housing ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
Climate Resilience

Climate change is affecting urban areas by increasing the intensity and frequency of climate-related disasters such as flooding, sea level rise, drought, etc. The trend is expected to rise significantly without proper intervention. Urban housings as the concentration of people and economic growth are the most impacted. This condition calls to study green infrastructure/GI strategies as a more sustainable way than the conventional. Such GI approach not only mitigate and adapt the impacts but also improve the urban climate resilience, particularly in the housing sector. Therefore, this study aims to propose a conceptual framework to integrate the elements for the implementation of GI for mitigating and adapting climate impact for urban resilience improvement. This study identified elements to employ GI for housing climate resilience: public awareness; land use and development regulation; land and property acquisition; environmental management plan; housing strategy; fiscal and taxation; and governance. This framework is a new tool for scoping and assessing urban housing vulnerability to climate change by helping stakeholders to systematically consider the benefit to introduce GI scheme in respective efforts.

scholarly journals How to Enhance the Environmental Values of Contemporary Cemeteries in an Urban Context

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2374
Author(s):  
Długozima Anna ◽  
Kosiacka-Beck Ewa
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Spatial Model ◽  
Environmental Values ◽  
Natural System ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
The Face ◽  
Integrated Concept ◽  
Space Architecture

The cemetery is an important element of the city’s natural system. It can create a system that has a great impact on shaping the city’s climate if it is integrated with the local landscape, designed with respect for the natural environment along with other green areas. In the face of negative demographic forecasts, urbanization and suburbanization processes, and climate change, the use of pro-environmental solutions in the development of cemeteries cannot be overestimated. On the basis of analyses of contemporary cemeteries from Europe (78 objects), including Poland (8 objects), a catalog of pro-environmental solutions is developed. The catalog is created based on the proposed functional and spatial model of cemeteries as a multifunctional space, integrating natural and cultural environments. Environmental activities related to the context, burial space, architecture, and other spatial elements, as well as the vegetation of modern cemeteries, are included. Then, in order to increase the environmental values of the cemetery, these solutions were implemented by developing an integrated concept for the project of a multifunctional and ecological municipal cemetery in Gniezno, Poland (the Greater Poland voivodeship).

Special Issue on Adaptation Measures for Disasters due to Climate Change

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-402
Author(s):  
Toshimitsu Komatsu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Assistant Professor ◽  
Disaster Prevention ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Mountainous Regions

An increase in natural hazards due to global warming has broadened the gap between natural hazards and disaster prevention. This gap has raised the possibility that unexpected major disasters occur. As chances of a natural hazard grow, appropriate and efficient adaptation is considered as a last resort for lessening disaster. In water-related disasters such as floods and debris flows, individual disaster sites have specific thresholds (limits). When a natural hazard exceeds this threshold, a serious disaster strikes us. On the contrary when it is under the limit, disaster damage is kept to be small. Flood disasters and landslides have the side of gall or nothing.h This is a characteristic of water-related disasters. Climate change is causing natural hazards to exceed this threshold easily. This makes resilient proactive adaptation very important in disaster prevention. Specific adaptation measures developed hereafter must cope with serious water and sediment disasters throughout mountainous regions, rivers, urban areas, and coastal areas that are assumed to be influenced by global warming. The Journal of Disaster Research has planned a special issue on the adaptation measures for disasters due to climate change. Having taken part in field surveys, computer simulations, and laboratory experiments and finding adaptation measures worth studying more deeply, I decided to contribute to this special issue as a Guest Editor. All of its 11 papers have been peer-reviewed. The broad topics covered range from floods, landslides, and storm surges to adaptation to the human being society. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the contributors and reviewers involved in producing these articles, especially to Dr. Hideo Oshikawa, Assistant Professor of the Department of Urban and Environment Engineering, Kyushu University, Japan, for his great support. I look forward with great anticipation to feedback from readers regarding these articles.

scholarly journals BIODIVERSE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: FROM “GREEN DESERT” OF LAWNS TO BIOPHILIC CITIES

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Ignatieva ◽  
Karin Ahrné
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Landscape Architecture ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Green Roofs ◽  
Master Plan ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Green Walls ◽  
Architecture Style

Modern urban green infrastructures are following globalisation trends and contribute to homogenization at all levels of green areas from the master plan to the finest scale. We discuss the place and role of three principal urban living spaces, the “skeleton” of green infrastructures: lawns, green walls and green roofs. This “trio” of modern GI elements provide significant ecosystem services, it contributes to biodiversity and social values; and have environmental and economic impact. The main goal of our approach to sustainable GI is to introduce a new landscape architecture style – biodiversinesque – as an alternative to the existing global homogenised picturesque-gardenesque. This new approach will combine the best achievements of innovative and alternative landscape design solutions (biodiverse lawns, pictorial meadows, walls and green roofs) and implement them on three major scales: city, intermediate neighborhood and the small biotope level.

scholarly journals Citizen Science Data to Measure Human Use of Green Areas and Forests in European Cities

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 779
Author(s):  
Vito Emanuele Cambria ◽  
Thomas Campagnaro ◽  
Giovanni Trentanovi ◽  
Riccardo Testolin ◽  
Fabio Attorre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Explanatory Models ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Science Data ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
European Cities ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Urban Green Infrastructure

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.

scholarly journals A Possible Circular Approach for Social Perception of Climate Adaptation Action Planning in Metropolitan Cities

2021 ◽  
pp. 155-169
Author(s):  
Alessandro Scuderi ◽  
Luisa Sturiale ◽  
Giuseppe Timpanaro ◽  
Giovanni La Via ◽  
Biagio Pecorino
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Evaluation Model ◽  
Action Planning ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Multi Criteria Evaluation ◽  
Set Up

AbstractOne of the factors that will affect the livability of cities and the overall citizens’ quality of life in the future is certainly climate change. Urban areas will play a fundamental role in the commitment against climate change and will have to develop appropriate adaptation actions, in accordance with the European Strategy against climate change, including the planning and implementation of Green Infrastructures (GIs). They produce various environmental and social benefits in the urban context. Various studies have shown that citizenship involvement at all levels is necessary for the evaluation of the sharing of the proposed projects. The research proposes an innovative methodological model to support administrations in the strategic planning choice of GIs according to a shared and circular approach. To perform a multi-layer assessment, the multi-criteria evaluation will be combined with the circular evaluation model called Green City Circle. The evaluation is set up as a circular process, followed by a first investigative phase, followed by a proactive phase of solutions and an implementation phase up to a final stage of evaluation of the results and strategies for long-term sustainability. The study was carried out in the city of Catania to test a planning and management tool for GIs envisaged by the administration as win–win climate adaptation measures.

LIFE URBANGREEN: Innovative technological platform to improve management of green areas for better climate adaptation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Viskanic ◽  
Alice Pasquinelli ◽  
Alessio Fini ◽  
Piotr Wezyk
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Areas ◽  
Green Areas

<p>Climate change is a serious and cross-cutting issue: urban areas are particularly sensitive to climate impacts, especially to heatwaves, floods and droughts. Typically, urban phenomena (such as the ‘urban heat island effect’ – where the urban area is significantly warmer than the surrounding rural areas) and the impacts of extreme weather events demonstrate the high vulnerability of cities.</p><p>Specific urban adaptation strategies are therefore needed to make cities more resilient. In this context, green areas and green infrastructures are seen among the most widely applicable, economically viable and effective tools to combat the impacts of climate change and help people adapt to or mitigate adverse effects of this change.</p><p>LIFE URBANGREEN is a European Funded project dealing with climate adaptation through the maximisation of ecosystem services provided by urban green areas maintained in an innovative way. The main expected result is a smart, integrated, geospatial management system, to monitor and govern all activities related to urban green areas, maximizing ecological benefits.</p><p>Five innovative modules are being developed within the project, aimed at:</p><ul><li>providing irrigation to trees only when and where actually needed</li> <li>reducing the carbon footprint of maintenance activities through a more efficient job planning</li> <li>quantifying ecosystem services provided by green areas</li> <li>monitoring health conditions of trees using remote sensing data</li> <li>increasing citizen participation in urban green management</li> </ul><p>The project involves 5 Italian and Polish partners:</p><ul><li>R3 GIS (GIS software company and project coordinator, Bolzano, Italy)</li> <li>University of Milano (scientific coordinator, Milano, Italy)</li> <li>ProGea 4D (remote sensing company, Krakow, Poland)</li> <li>ZZM (manager of urban green areas in Krakow, Poland)</li> <li>Anthea (manager of urban green areas in Rimini, Italy)</li> </ul><p>Also, the National Central University (NCU) in Taiwan, under the coordination of Prof Yuei-An Liou, supports the project and participates as external partner and will test some innovations of the LIFE URBANGREEN Project in Taiwan.</p><p>During the EGU conference, results obtained during the first two years of the project will be presented. More information on the project is available at www.lifeurbangreen.eu</p>

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