China’s ecosystem services planning: will Shanghai lead the way? A case study from the Baoshan district (Shanghai)

Ecosystem services (ES) are a fundamental component of well-being and sustainable urban development with tremendous potential to enhance urban planning. Recently, several studies have evaluated the environmental performance of urban plans using the ES approach. To strengthen this science-policy integration, it is still necessary to perform ES assessments within the urban planning practice as well as to collect empirical evidence on the impacts of envisioned planning measures on the supply of ES in urban environments across the world. In this research, we analyzed the state-of-the-art of China’s new environmental governance, which aims to change China’s land use policy and particularly the role of Green Infrastructure (GI) regarding urban planning and ES. We focused on the Shanghai Baoshan district Master Plan as a case study, and analyzed it under the lenses of the supply of ES using the matrix approach. We ascertained the supply of ES as delineated in the ecological network plan for 2035, and developed an evaluation framework based on CICES v5.1 and two expert workshops. Our approach used an integrated preliminary ES-assessment, and evaluated the consequences for the supply of ES in Baoshan district, which is adaptable to varying urban geographies. The results of our assessment show that, if realized as planned, the district will increase the overall supply of ES, especially regulating and cultural services, that play an important role within GI on the urban level. In general, the land use plans should include fine-grained information within building blocks to allow for even better assessing of the spatial structure of the supply of ES

Correlations between magnetic enhancement and heavy metal pollution in the urban soils of an industrial area in Shanghai

<p>Correlations between magnetic enhancement and heavy metal pollution in the urban soils of an industrial area in Shanghai</p><p> </p><p>Mei Li, Zi-Chen He, Xue-Feng Hu</p><p>School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China</p><p> </p><p>Fifty-three topsoil samples (0-5 cm) on the sides of highways surrounding the Bao Steel Company were collected in Baoshan District of Shanghai, Southeast China. Physical-chemical properties and magnetic susceptibility of the topsoils were analyzed. Close to the Yangtze River Estuary, the soils in the study area in the northern part of Baoshan District, Shanghai, were mostly derived from tidal sediments of the estuary. The topsoils were thus alkaline, with pH in a range of 8.0-8.6. The content of organic matter in the topsoils was in a range of 8.0-78.6 mg g<sup>-1</sup>. The content of Fe in the topsoils varied greatly, possibly influenced by the industrial emissions from local metal smelters and power plants. The content of total Fe (Fe<sub>t</sub>) in the topsoils was in a range of 21.0-68.6 mg g<sup>-1</sup>, with an average of 33.7 mg g<sup>-1</sup>; free Fe (Fe<sub>d</sub>), 8.5-25.2 mg g<sup>-1</sup>, with an average of 13.8 mg g<sup>-1</sup>; amorphous Fe (Fe<sub>o</sub>), 2.2-40.4 mg g<sup>-1</sup>, with an average of 13.1 mg g<sup>-1</sup>. Correspondingly, the magnetic signals of the topsoils were significantly enhanced and varied greatly from site to site. Magnetic susceptibility of the topsoils was in a range of 35.3-1722.7×10<sup>-8</sup> m<sup>3</sup> kg<sup>-1</sup>, with an average of 408.5×10<sup>-8</sup> m<sup>3</sup> kg<sup>-1</sup>. The topsoil with the maximum magnetic susceptibility, 1722.7×10<sup>-8</sup> m<sup>3</sup> kg<sup>-1</sup>, was coarse in grain size and located beside some machinery, cement and material factories. Magnetic susceptibility of the topsoils was significantly correlated with Fe<sub>t</sub>, Fe<sub>d</sub> and Fe<sub>o</sub> (r=0.712, 0.777, 0.961, n=53; p<0.01). The contents of toxic heavy metals, Zn, Pb, Cr, Co, Mn and Ni, in the topsoils were also analyzed. It was found that heavy metals were highly accumulated in the topsoils. The contents of Mn, Cr and Ni in the topsoils were more than 2 times the background values in the soils of Shanghai, and Pb and Zn were more than 4 times the background values. Moreover, magnetic susceptibility of the topsoils was positively significantly correlated with the content of Zn, Mn and Ni (r=0.884, 0.819, 0.564, p<0.01; n=53). This suggests that magnetic susceptibility of the topsoils can be used to indicate the degree of heavy metal pollution to some extent. There are many iron smelting factories and coal-fired power plants in the study area, which emitted a high amount of Fe-containing magnetic particles. The small particles had a large surface area and often adsorbed toxic heavy metals. When the particles were settled down on the ground, both magnetic signals and heavy metal contents of the topsoils were enhanced simultaneously. Therefore, the magnetic techniques are a promising means to study and evaluate the pollution of urban soils.</p>

Prevalence of and related risk factors in oral mucosa diseases among residents in the Baoshan District of Shanghai, China

Background Oral mucosal diseases (OMDs) encompass a variety of different types of diseases. Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence and related risk factors of OMDs among residents in the Baoshan District of Shanghai, China, and provide a scientific basis for prevention and control strategies. Methods A sample of 653 residents aged 17 to 92 years from the Baoshan community was investigated in 2014. Each resident was surveyed by questionnaire to evaluate their oral mucosa and oral mucosa examinations were conducted. We followed up with 607 residents in 2018. All data were statistically analyzed using the SPSS 25.0 software package (Chicago, IL, USA) at the general population, gender and age levels. A X2 test was used to compare rates of risk factors and logistic regression analysis was used to detect the correlation between disease and risk factors. Results The prevalence rate of OMDs was found to be 9.19%–9.56% (2014–2018). The most common OMDs were atrophic glossitis (1.84%), recurrent aphthous ulcer (RAU, 1.68%), burning mouth syndrome (BMS, 1.38%), oral lichen planus (OLP, 1.23%) and traumatic ulcers (1.23%). The prevalence of RAU and BMS in different age groups was significantly different. Tobacco and alcohol use and psychological factors in the OMDs group were higher than the no-OMDs group. Systemic diseases including diabetes mellitus (DM) was significantly relevant to OLP. Conclusion Age, tobacco and alcohol use, and psychological factor correlated strongly with the occurrence and development of OMDs, and they should be the focus of primary prevention. General epidemiological studies suggested that OLP was closely related to DM.