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Urban Green Infrastructure in the Global South
Abstract
Urban green infrastructure (UGI) aims to strategically develop green and blue space networks that contribute to human health and wellbeing, urban sustainability and climate resilience. However, evidence on UGI research and application in the cities of the Global South is limited. An overview of the development of UGI in the three regions of Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia is presented. The selective review shows that concepts such as urban greening, urban forestry and urban agriculture are more frequently used. Traditional goals, i.e. city beautification and providing recreational spaces, still prevail, but the reduction of risks (e.g. from flooding and landslides) and securing food and livelihoods are increasingly important drivers for developing UGI. Habitat networks can be another entry point for broadening into multifunctional UGI. However, there are only few examples of integrated approaches that would transcend sector silos. Therefore, strengthening the capacity for strategic planning and collaborative governance of UGI is an important consideration for cities in the Global South and for future research. The potential of local communities for creating and managing UGI should be better recognised in policymaking, along with environmental justice because often the urban poor do not benefit fairly from UGI.
... This will lead to the development of unsustainable trajectories in urban areas and the large-scale transformation of valuable natural areas, putting development pressure on the green spaces in and around urban areas [2]. Different concepts are used in sub-Saharan Africa to describe these urban green spaces [3]. The concept of urban forest is often used for tree-dominated (woodland) generally divided into four classes, namely supporting (e.g., biodiversity), provisioning (e.g., food, medicine, water), regulating (e.g., climate and flood regulation, carbon sequestration, water purification) and cultural/socio-economic aspects (e.g., tourism, recreation, mental and physical health, spiritual experience, and sense of place) [24,25]. ...
... It is a construct illustrating that practical and mutually supportive building blocks, all within which introducing non-allergenic, indigenous species to urban landscapes, may well be conducive to designing healthy urban green spaces in South Africa. The building block approach relates well to specific UGI principles i.e., connectivity and multifunctionality in terms of the provision of various ES, the integration of green and grey infrastructure and relevance on multiple scales [3,12,14]. ...
... A fifth component, not captured in the building blocks of Girling and Kellet, but traversing all four components, is the social component or community that daily utilises urban networks and fabrics. Social inclusion is also an important principle of UGI planning and is often neglected in urban areas of the Global South [3]. In this regard, implementing community-based participatory planning is admittedly inevitable to obtain meaningful solutions and insight from the residents, informing decision-making in designing healthy urban green spaces in South Africa [97,98]. ...
South Africa’s urban population is increasing, and in parallel, urban green infrastructure has shown an increase in alien tree species, e.g., mulberry (Morus sp.), oak (Quercus spp.) and plane trees (Platanus spp.) to name a few. This causes ecological problems since alien trees are often more water-demanding and competitive than indigenous trees, but they also increase the abundance of respiratory diseases often triggered by an allergic reaction towards the pollen of those alien taxa. In the current study, utilizing 7-day volumetric spore traps, we illustrate that the most abundant tree pollen in the two largest cities of South Africa, Cape Town and Johannesburg, is produced by alien trees with a high risk of allergenicity. This adds another aspect related to public health when evaluating plant species composition in urban forestry and urban ecology, which underlines the urgency of more intense monitoring. More importantly, this—for South Africa—newly emphasized risk for public health underlines the applicability of current directives [i.e., Spatial Development Frameworks (SDFs), localized Precinct Plans, Land Use Schemes (LUSs)] and implementation options in urban planning. Here, we present ideas that may be implemented in such a framework. From both a public health and an ecological perspective, it is recommended to plant indigenous trees like Combretum erythrophyllum, Vachellia and Senegalia spp. that have fewer ecosystem disservices, like a lower impact on public health due to lower allergenicity/lower pollen occurrence and providing more ecosystem services such as lower water needs.
... The resilience of cities can further be promoted by increasing social, ecological and social-ecological connectivity that will enhance the provision of ecosystem services and nature's contributions to people (Diaz et al. 2018) provided by urban green infrastructure (Maciejewski et al. 2021;Pauleit et al. 2021). The ecology "for" cities approach also focuses on the importance of merging urban ecology with design because "most of the environmental impacts of any project are manifest at the point of design" according to Childers et al. (2015). ...
... Equally important, but less often studied than ecosystem services, is the effect of various ecosystem disservices, firstly at local scales because local knowledge and perceptions on ecosystem disservices are crucial in management plans and policies, but interventions at coarser scales are also necessary . Although urban green infrastructure (UGI) is characterised in different ways in GS cities, there are good examples of both top-down planning of urban green spaces at coarse scales as well as citizen-led initiatives at a local scales (Pauleit et al. 2021), such as tree planting and other activities in urban green spaces, gardens and wetlands, which are often viewed as more beneficial approaches to urban management (Simon et al. 2021). ...
... The importance of multiple scales is also specifically mentioned in the four chapters on urban planning and management in the of GS Maciejewski et al. 2021;Pauleit et al. 2021;Sitas et al. 2021). Addressing urban resilience, socialecological connectivity, ecological planning and design and urban governance in GS cities should emphasise local-scale challenges informing and governing challenges at coarser scales Maciejewski et al. 2021;Simon et al. 2021;Sitas et al. 2021). ...
The rapid growth in urban ecological research and application has been led by countries of the Global North, particularly Europe and the USA, albeit not restricted to them. However, this belies that most urban growth is currently in the Global South, with the differential set to increase in the future. Thus, there is an imbalance between where the bulk of urban ecological research and framings are developed and where the majority of urban citizens globally live, work and seek to meet their aspirations. This chapter illustrates how this book addressed the identified research gaps in the Global South. We also highlight dominant recurring themes in Global South research discourse and importantly, where future research efforts over the next decade should be focussed. Eight themes are considered, namely: inequality; informality; urban–rural links; small and medium-sized towns and cities; urban green infrastructure, biodiversity and ecosystem services; understanding and accommodating multiple worldviews of urban nature; human health and urban nature; and specific research approaches.
... Swilling 2006;Chen et al. 2008;Cilliers et al. 2014;Yigitcanlar and Kamruzzaman 2015). Similarly, the concept of green infrastructure (GI) planning, first recognised in the work of landscape designers such as Olmsted and Vaux (Sinnett et al. 2015), focusing on a deliberate network of multifunctional and integrated green spaces (Benedict and McMahon 2006;Pauleit et al. 2021), was developed in the Global North (e.g. Lovell and Taylor 2013;Pauleit et al. 2019). ...
... Lovell and Taylor 2013;Pauleit et al. 2019). However, there has been incremental uptake of GI planning in Global South countries (Frischenbruder and Pellegrino 2006;du Toit et al. 2018;Lindley et al. 2018;Pauleit et al. 2021) aiming to address sustainable urban development. Resilience theory has recently offered scientists a complementary approach to sustainability, in which nature (environmental aspects) forms the basis for society to adapt to foreseen inevitable change while maintaining system functioning (Erixon et al. 2013;Sitas et al. 2021). ...
... The concept of ecosystem services (ES) that refers to the benefits that people derive from ecosystems (Díaz et al. 2015) is now widely studied. The implementation of the ES concept in GI planning in the Global South was described by Pauleit et al. (2021). The question we are addressing in this section is: How is the ES concept adopted across cultures? ...
Tremendous increases in urbanisation predicted for the Global South compel urban planners and designers to be more innovative and ecological wisdom is needed for urban plans and designs to be relevant across different scales, communities and regions. Scientific emphasis on sustainable planning and design originated in the Global North, but is gaining increased consideration in the Global South. This chapter investigates to what extent research areas in ecological planning and design, such as (1) ecosystem services, (2) impact of natural disasters, (3) ecological restoration and rehabilitation and (4) ability of urban residents to link knowledge to action, have been dealt with in the Global South. Differences with the Global North in research needs are reflected upon and challenges in the application of ecological planning and design in the Global South are discussed. These challenges include aspects such as increased urban sprawl, land invasion and ecological degradation, weak environmental support from local government, lack of ecological planning initiatives and incentives and investments in ecosystems and their services, ineffective policy and legislation and narrow research approaches and agendas focusing too much on the Global North. Lastly, recommendations are made of research foci and methods to address these challenges drawing from Global South examples.
... J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f Originating in the Global North, the GI concept is increasingly adopted in other global contexts (Lindley et al., 2018;Pauleit et al., 2021). Despite some deficiencies in practical implementation strategies (Monteiro et al., 2020), examples of GI applications in various cities are growing. ...
... However, current implementation policies and strategies for GI concentrate primarily on green growth, integrated energy, climate adaptation, or climate resilience plans , with the above aspects of ecological network integration and socioeconomic and health benefits of GI generally neglected. Pauleit et al. (2021) further emphasize that, due to future risks, the most important and more immediate goals for GI in Africa include temperature regulation, food provision and security, and for cultural reasons aesthetic appeal and recreational facilities; while job creation, is rarely acknowledged as a benefit of GI. King and Shackleton (2020) report how the maintenance of UGI provides work opportunities for skilled and unskilled workers in the public and private sectors. ...
... In the cities of the Global South, which face rapid urbanization and increasing climate risks, climate adaptation and resilience measures have continued to lag behind. Furthermore, the integration of BGI as a nature-based solution for climate adaptation has still been lacking (Ghofrani et al., 2017;Khajooria and Kumar, 2017;Pauleit et al., 2021). ...
... Both Chennai and Kochi presented a new approach toward integrating BGI into their urban planning and redevelopment for resilience building. Previous studies had shown how important it was to consider socioenvironmental justice when implementing nature-based solutions by using integrated governance approaches that consider the participation of diverse actors (Kabisch et al., 2016;Pauleit et al., 2021). The Chennai and Kochi case studies represent an involvement of the scientific community, consideration of socio-environmental needs, and a participatory approach. ...
Nature-based solutions, such as reviving blue-green infrastructure (BGI), for climate adaptation in cities have been gaining global attention. In the case of India, the rapid urbanization since the end of the twentieth century has exacerbated the impact of climate change at significant environmental, social, and economic costs. Coastal cities in India commonly face climate change related hazards of flooding, rise in sea level, and urban heat islands. This article has assessed the usefulness of scientific information and community knowledge in planning, reviving, and maintaining BGI to make it a successful climate adaptation practice in coastal cities. The existing waterways and water bodies in India's coastal cities are a network linked to the green infrastructure that has been altered by sprawling urbanization. In response to Sustainable Development Goals 11 and 13, the cities of Kochi and Chennai have begun a process of recovering their BGI for greater resilience. This research has detected a shift in the social and administrative perception of BGI as a valuable resource for climate adaptation in recent times. Actions in backwaters and canals, promoted by Chennai and Kochi municipal corporations, present new steps toward mainstreaming adaptation of BGI into the local regulatory framework.
... A growing number of cities recognize the multiple benefits that green infrastructure can provide (Zabcik, 2017;Meerow, 2020). Unfortunately, the pace and the scale to implement green infrastructure is not keeping pace with rapidly changing environmental conditions in both developed (Wihlborg et al., 2019;Van Oijstaeijen et al., 2020) and developing countries (Pauleit et al., 2021). This is leaving communities and infrastructure systems more vulnerable when facing challenges associated with climate change (Dhakal and Chevalier, 2017;Hu and Shealy, 2020). ...
... These results can provide useful information for other regions with similar accepted norms and practices in engineering. The pace of green infrastructure adoption global is not equal and thus the intervention may not provide similar outcomes when awareness among decisionmakers differs (Dhakal and Chevalier, 2017;Li et al., 2020;Pauleit et al., 2021). For example, in countries or regions where green infrastructure encounter fewer cognitive barriers, this type of invention may provide less benefit. ...
Green infrastructure is the application of nature-based solutions like bioswales, rain gardens, and permeable pavements to reduce flooding in urban areas. These systems are underutilized in the design of the built environment. A barrier to their implementation is that design engineers tend to discount the tangential benefits of these greener systems and overweigh the associated risks. This study tested whether priming engineers to think about the environmental and social sustainability benefits of green infrastructure can influence what attributes engineers consider and how they weigh these attributes during the design decision-making process. Forty engineering students trained in stormwater design were asked to evaluate the implementation of a conventional stormwater design option and a green stormwater design option. Their preferred design option was recorded and the changes in their neuro-cognition were measured using functional near infrared-spectroscopy. Half of the engineers were asked to first consider the potential outcomes of these options on the environment and the surrounding community. Priming engineers to first consider environmental and social sustainability before considering the cost and risk of each option, significantly increased the perceived benefits the engineers believed green infrastructure could provide. The priming intervention also increased the likelihood that engineers would recommend the green infrastructure option. The engineers primed to think about environmental and social sustainability exhibited significantly lower oxy-hemoglobin in their ventrolateral, dorsolateral, and medial prefrontal cortex through multiple phases of the judgment and decision-making process. The intervention appears to increase cognitive representativeness or salience of the benefits for green infrastructure when engineers evaluate design alternatives. This relatively low-cost intervention, asking engineers to consider environmental and social sustainability for each design alternative, can shift engineering decision-making and change neuro-cognition.
... Within the Global South, South Africa presents particularly fertile research potential owing to three features. Firstly, although research on multiple facets related to UGSs has predominantly focused on the Global North [51], neglecting sub-Saharan Africa in particular [34], South Africa has been especially well represented in scholarship [52], and the country provides a relatively rich literature base on urban ecology to inform future research. Secondly, South Africa provides an obverse case to conventions in the Global North, with racial minorities (of European descent) generally presenting as the wealthiest group in the country in contrast with the poorer Black majority, as a result of past institutionalized racial discrimination under colonialism and apartheid [8]. ...
... The concept is often also supplemented by the term blue-green infrastructure, in recognition of the services provided by water bodies and wetlands when part of a network of UGSs [72]. This paper draws on various established definitions, incorporating elements of blue-green infrastructure, to describe green infrastructure as an interconnected, multifunctional network comprised of links and nodes constituted by natural, semi-natural and artificial blue and green spaces and systems that deliver benefits known as ecosystem services [51,67,73]. The term ecosystem services has evaded a general definition [74], but is defined in this paper as the benefits all living species (humans in particular) derive, directly or indirectly, from the capacity of ecosystems to deliver goods and services that satisfy their needs [75,76]. ...
Urban green spaces (UGSs) may present economic contributions through increases in proximate property values, encapsulated in the proximity principle (PP). More data on the PP is required from the Global South, where the quality and equitable distribution of UGSs are important considerations. This paper investigates the PP in Potchefstroom, South Africa following a quantitative approach, by statistically analyzing municipal property valuations in three districts differentiated according to their socioeconomic status (SES). Districts are divided into sample areas where three zones are demarcated according to their proximity to a UGS. The results show that property valuations are generally higher for properties in closer proximity to UGSs in lower- and higher-income samples, but are lower in middle-income areas. Neighborhood characteristics and SES, UGS amenity and maintenance, ecosystem services and disservices, domestic garden area and residential property size may be connected to the confirmation or rejection of the PP. The rejection of the PP in middle-income areas indicates a need to improve public UGSs as amenity destinations. The results confirming the PP in low-income areas could incentivize expenditures to improve UGS area and quality to increase the willingness to pay for proximity to such spaces and, reciprocally, increase revenue from municipal property taxes.
... Há uma crescente demanda de soluções que promovam a resiliência e a justiça ambiental, sobretudo no contexto do planejamento urbano (Lafortezza et al., 2018). A maioria dos estudos que abordam a acessibilidade de áreas verdes urbanas concentra-se em cidades do hemisfério Norte e em países desenvolvidos, existindo uma lacuna de informações acerca da desigualdade na acessibilidade a áreas verdes em países emergentes, como é o caso do Brasil (Parker e Baro, 2019;Pauleit et al., 2021;Ying et al., 2021). ...
A demanda por soluções que promovam a resiliência e a sustentabilidade, sobretudo no contexto do planejamento urbano é crescente. Sendo assim, nosso objetivo é propor uma metodologia para a avaliação da acessibilidade nas áreas verdes públicas no contexto nacional, de modo a contribuir com a formulação de políticas públicas que promovam a justiça ambiental. Foi elaborado um panorama sobre os conceitos de justiça ambiental e acessibilidade às áreas verdes, bem como, um estudo de caso em Belo Horizonte, aplicando uma proposta metodológica capaz de avaliar a acessibilidade às áreas verdes da cidade. A metodologia proposta evidenciou os locais que precisam de investimentos na capital mineira, bem como, permitiu quantifi car a população afetada pela falta de acessibilidade às áreas verdes. Recomenda-se que a metodologia seja replicada nas cidades brasileiras como ferramenta de auxílio para a gestão da fl oresta urbana.
... The city is known for its efforts to promote ecological sustainability and environmental conservation. It is home to various green spaces, urban forests, and parks that contribute to the city's aesthetic appeal and provide recreational opportunities for residents (Pauleit et al, 2021). Kigali also recognizes the importance of preserving its wetlands, which play a vital role in water regulation and support diverse plant and animal species. ...
This ecological research targeting sustainable urban landscapes needs to include findings and methods from many lines of ecological research, such as the link between biodiversity and ecosystem function, the role of humans in ecosystems, landscape connectivity and resilience. This paper reviews and highlights the importance of these issues for sustainable use of ecosystem services, which is argued to be one aspect of sustainable cities. The paper stresses the need to include social and economic factors when analyzing urban landscapes and positive impacts of wetland/land restoration. Spatially explicit data can be used to assess the roles different green areas have in providing people with ecosystem services, and whether people actually have access to the services. Such data can also be used to assess connectivity and heterogeneity, both argued to be central for continuous, long-term provision of these services, and to determine the role urban form has for sustainability. In addition, ecological sustainability can be promoted through sustainable urban planning and zoning practices that encourage mixed-use development, reduce urban sprawl, and promote walkability and access to public transportation with other different initiatives. These practices can help to reduce the carbon footprint of cities, while also improving quality of life for residents. Overall, ecological sustainability is an essential component of urban landscapes and smart cities. By prioritizing the health of the environment, cities can create more livable, resilient, and prosperous communities for everyone.
... En otras regiones del mundo, como Asia, África y América Latina, los ejemplos son más escasos, pero están surgiendo cada vez más iniciativas (Mell, 2016;Pauleit et al., 2021;Vásquez et al., 2019). En el caso chileno, una pionera ha sido la comuna de Coronel, cuyo plan elaborado en 2010 plantea triplicar la superficie de espacios verdes, creando un sistema que los interconecta y que ha dado resultados visibles y ampliamente valorados por la comunidad (Municipalidad de Coronel, 2012). ...
Stgo+ es una iniciativa que surgió en 2017 desde la Universidad de Chile y el SERVIU Metropolitano, sumando progresivamente actores institucionales y de la sociedad civil. El objetivo es, mediante un proceso participativo, abordar el territorio desde la bioregión metropolitana, las intercomunales y comunales, a las microintervenciones situadas. El presente artículo muestra los resultados de las primeras etapas: el análisis espacial y de actores, la definición de objetivos y la estructura espacial a distintas escalas y propuesta de implementación. El proyecto ofrece una mirada estratégica del verde urbano que permite articular actores e iniciativas públicas y privadas, para optimizar sus beneficios configurando un sistema integrado, para transformar a Santiago en una ciudad más verde, justa, equitativa y resiliente.
... Green infrastructure consists of networks of natural and semi-natural areas that are designed and managed together with other environmental features (Lafortezza et al. 2013). It consists of multifunctional elements that deliver diverse ecosystem services simultaneously (Mouchet et al. 2017) and help reduce the societal challenges caused by urbanization (Pauleit et al. 2021). Multiple case studies around the world have demonstrated the opportunities that green infrastructure offers to improve human wellbeing in cities (e.g. ...
Ecosystem services provided by green infrastructure are often discussed for their potential to address the societal challenges of urbanization. However, green infrastructure, particu- larly small-scale types (e.g. trees), is vulnerable to loss through urbanization and is often passed over during scientific investigations. Studies on the perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices (hereafter called ecosystem (dis)services) dynamics along the rural- urban gradient are particularly rare in the literature. Therefore, this study assessed the perceived importance of ecosystem (dis)services associated with small-scale green infra- structure along a rural-urban gradient in Bengaluru, India. Based on photos of the five most common types of small-scale green infrastructure and the three most common tree species associated with them, we conducted a photo-elicitation survey of 649 residents from 61 towns in Bengaluru. We found significant differences in the perceptions of all ecosystem (dis)services among the types of green infrastructure. The most appreciated services were air/climate regulation from platform trees and aesthetic values from farm trees. Regulating services were most appreciated in urban areas while provisioning and cultural services were most appreciated in transitional areas, and disservices were most strongly perceived in rural areas. Gender, age, education, caste, and income from agriculture significantly affected the use and valuation of the ecosystem (dis)services within the local communities. Our study reveals the crucial role of small-scale green infrastructure as a multifunctional element, which is highly relevant for the supply of provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services in Bengaluru.
... Planning for urban renaturing can set the stage to improve people's ecological literacy and their various values towards nature to enrich renaturing programs. Openness and inclusive planning approaches to different epistemologies and knowledge systems are important for understanding how renaturing cities as urban programs can elicit and enhance ecological literacy across different knowledge systems (Pauleit et al., 2021). Including the local and indigenous populations' knowledge rather than solely relying on scientific or expert knowledge can lead to solutions more aligned with both society's and nature's needs and conditions (Brondizio & Tourneau, 2016;Folke et al., 2016). ...
Renaturing urban environments is a transformative pathway for urban sustainability that can be leveraged for collaborative research and planning to reverse long trends of ecosystem degradation. People-nature connections need to be reinforced to enable the successful uptake and upscale of urban renaturing practices. Improving people’s understanding, perception, and emotions towards nature is therefore key. In this paper, we discuss how human knowledge and values of nature can be enabled through urban renaturing. Besides, we discuss the required transitions in urban planning processes to support urban renaturing practices.
... Traditional stormwater management practices can destroy natural hydro-ecological processes and be unsustainable (National Research Council, 2009). Sustainability challenges, such as the changing climate, excessive storm-related hazards, outdated stormwater infrastructure, and deteriorating water quality, lead to a need for more sustainable and resilient stormwater management in the urban environment (Brears, 2018;Carlet, 2015;Dhakal & Chevalier, 2017;Ghofrani et al., 2017;Pauleit et al., 2021). Green infrastructure solutions like bio-retention systems hold great promise for more sustainable urban stormwater management. ...
... These "people-plants" connections and interactions have become increasingly important in settlements and urban areas, especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people worldwide were isolated with restricted mobility [5]. Urban green infrastructure (UGI), such as urban forests and parks, public and private open spaces such as gardens, and farmlands [6] provide spaces for such connections among urban communities, and some studies have estimated that gardens and private yards constitute just over 50% of UGI in many cities [7]. and even in rural settlements, because "it is not always easy to distinguish between urban and rural areas spatially or by a clear reliance on either urban or rural income sources but rather a mix" [29]. ...
Gardens provide spaces for connectedness to nature, which contributes to human well-being and promotes pro-environmental behavior. However, the provision of ecosystem services (ES) in gardens of sub-Saharan Africa is challenged by a lack of knowledge, resulting in inefficient gardening practices. Stakeholders also influence the manifestation of ES provisioning through their perceptions, learning, and decisions. Health clinic gardens may be able to address some of these challenges where other types of gardens fail because of a lack of awareness of other garden benefits and a lack of gardening skills and knowledge, among other factors. Thus, this study aimed to assess stakeholder perceptions of ES provided by health clinic gardens in the North-West province, South Africa. Survey questionnaires were administered to 218 stakeholders across 105 health clinic gardens to ascertain their involvement and prioritization of the ES provided by the gardens and their perspectives on gardens in general. The diversity and abundance of stakeholders per clinic garden were enumerated based on the respondents’ reports. Stakeholder prioritization of ES was scored out of 5, where 1 is the least prioritization. Health clinic gardens have a diversity of one to five types of stakeholders per garden, and more than 80% of the gardens were reported to have a groundsman. Stakeholders spent 1.5 ± 0.5 to 4.7 ± 0.12 days/week engaged in garden activities. Groundsmen spent the most time (4.7 ± 0.12 days/week) in the gardens, while facility managers spent the least (0.90 ± 0.12). Regulating and cultural ES, each scoring an average of 3.7 out of 5, were perceived as the most valuable ES of health clinic gardens. A “garden” was mainly associated with vegetable cultivation and rarely linked with recreation or aesthetical appreciation. A case for establishing these gardens across the country and other developing countries of the Global South can be made through the assessment of their potential ES from the perspectives of stakeholders. This study addresses this topic and contributes to an understanding of the importance of a variety of stakeholders for maintaining functional health clinic gardens.
... The terminology and definitions used to introduce the tree planting projects are also relevant. In the published literature of the academic analysis of tree planting projects, terms such as urban green infrastructure, urban greening, urban agriculture, nature-based solution, and urban forestry are used interchangeably [2,48,49]. The use, or absence, of precise definitions has many implications in terms of assumptions and conceptualizations of the policies that constitute a relevant area of research. ...
Africa is a particularly vulnerable continent to the effects of climate and environmental changes. Several tree planting projects were launched as one of the plausible solutions to climate action. This paper reviews the recent tree planting projects in African cities, initiated between 2009 to 2021, focusing on analyzing the expected benefits to the populations. Indeed, these projects have become a widespread instrument to promise planning solutions for many African countries given the expected improvements to mitigate air pollution, carbon sequestration, and the conditions of cities for the health and wellbeing of their citizens. The consequences of uncontrolled urbanization in Africa also stress the importance of better planning of green spaces. African cities should reconsider urban planning with a clear focus on the role of green infrastructures because of their extensive social benefits and supportive capacity for any significant sustainable development. While these projects seem to be a promising initiative and are expected to deliver beneficial ecosystem services to citizens, there are still some loopholes that this paper highlights.
... GI is a key element in sustainable urban planning (Baro et al. 2015) and important for sustainable resource management (Davies et al. 2006). Studies show the worldwide interest in green infrastructure from Europe (Benedict and McMahon 2002;Ahern 2003;Mell 2009); Global South (Pauleit et al. 2021); Asia (Byrne et al. 2015); and Africa (Schaffler and Swilling 2013). However, in Africa, the concept of GI is more recent and infrequently prioritized in planning and development processes (Mensah 2014), and only scattered publications refer to the GI concept (Hansen and Pauleit 2014). ...
Green infrastructure (GI) is a strategically planned network of natural and seminatural areas designed and managed to deliver ecosystem services. This paper aims to improve knowledge about how spatial plans address GI in Ethiopia. Document review and content analysis were used to identify and analyze key principles of GI planning and green space plans. The paper uses two evaluation criteria: an assessment of GI integration into the strategic planning of urban regions and criterions developed to evaluate the green plan in towns and cities to measure their integration into urban spatial and green space plans. The results indicate that green infrastructure has been at the initial stage of planning and there are gaps in the way spatial planning incorporates GI concepts, components, functions, and principles. Reviewing and analyzing whether planning documents incorporate GI principles and green plans is relevant to explaining the role of spatial plans in delivering GI. The plan evaluation in this research can be implemented at any planning scale in Ethiopia and other African urban areas. Applying these UGI principles in the plan can guide for future development of UGI planning efforts.
... However, Zuniga-Teran et al. (2019) suggest that the implementation, as well as effectiveness of GI in cities, is highly challenged by several factors, besides its promising importance as a climate change adaptation measure. Some of these critical challenges are presented in Fig. 2. A review conducted by Pauleit et al. (2021) focusing on UGI application in the Global South generated interesting insight into the concepts such as greening, forestry, and agriculture in cities. Furthermore, the study concentrated only in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia leaving the rest of Africa and Oceania, which also constitute the Global South. ...
... However, Zuniga-Teran et al. (2019) suggest that the implementation, as well as effectiveness of GI in cities, is highly challenged by several factors, besides its promising importance as a climate change adaptation measure. Some of these critical challenges are presented in Fig. 2. A review conducted by Pauleit et al. (2021) focusing on UGI application in the Global South generated interesting insight into the concepts such as greening, forestry, and agriculture in cities. Furthermore, the study concentrated only in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia leaving the rest of Africa and Oceania, which also constitute the Global South. ...
Given a lot of elusive information on the use and implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in the Global South, this review provides a synthesis of the evidence on the: - (1) distribution of urban green technologies in form of arboriculture and urban agriculture as a part of NbS packages for the sustainability of cities against population growth and impact of climate change; and (2) options of integrating and mainstreaming various NbS packages into city development policies, planning processes, and decision-making agendas. The sustainability of urban green as part of NbS packages and the usefulness for improvement of livelihoods is determined by the spatial (geographical location) and temporal (time of action) scales, and socio-ecological and institutional factors. Various NbS packages have shown the ability for use as climate change adaptation measures throughout the world. These functions include protection from soil erosion, protection from inland flooding, buffering natural resources against drier and more variable climates, protection from coastal hazards and sea-level rise, moderation of urban heatwaves and effects of heat island, and managing storm-water and flooding in urban areas. Furthermore, the benefits of urban agriculture and arboriculture include use as sources of food and generation of income; improve recreation and social interactions, and the sustainability of biodiversity. They also mitigate the impact of environmental pollution and climate change through reduction of gas emissions and act as carbon sinks. While the starting capital and lack of policy on urban agriculture and arboriculture in many countries, the importance of the industry is inevitably a useful agenda especially in the Global South due to vulnerability to the impact of climate change. This review also suggests the inclusion of all institutions, governments, and relevant stakeholders to emphasize gender sensitization at all levels of planning and decision-making in food production and adaptation measures to climate change.
... For future sustainability we need to better understand what ability different urban forms have for delivering these multifunctional benefits of promoting human-wellbeing, being environmentally sustainable and supporting resilience (Grimm et al., 2008;Hansen et al., 2017). This evidence is particularly lacking from the Global South where cultural and environmental conditions make their challenges and potential solutions distinct Pauleit et al., 2021). ...
To ensure future sustainability, cities need to consider concepts of livability and resident wellbeing alongside environmental, economic and infrastructure development equity. The current rapid urbanization experienced in many regions is leading to sustainability challenges, but also offers the opportunity to deliver infrastructure supporting the social aspects of cities and the services that underpin them alongside economic growth. Unfortunately, evidence of what is needed to deliver urban wellbeing is largely absent from the global south. This paper contributes to filling this knowledge gap through a novel interdisciplinary mixed methods study undertaken in two rapidly changing cities (one Thai and one Kenyan) using qualitative surveys, subjective wellbeing and stress measurements, and spatial analysis of urban infrastructure distribution. We find the absence of basic infrastructure (including waste removal, water availability and quality) unsurprisingly causes significant stress for city residents. However, once these services are in place, smaller variations (inequalities) in social (crime, tenure) and environmental (noise, air quality) conditions begin to play a greater role in determining differences in subjective wellbeing across a city. Our results indicate that spending time in urban greenspaces can mitigate the stressful impacts of city living even for residents of informal neighborhoods. Our data also highlights the importance of places that enable social interactions supporting wellbeing–whether green or built. These results demonstrate the need for diversity and equity in the provision of public realm spaces to ensure social and spatial justice. These findings strengthen the need to promote long term livability in LMIC urban planning alongside economic growth, environmental sustainability, and resilience.
... It also seeks reexamination of the land use efficiency (urban density) based model of urban growth (Grədinaru et al., 2015;Zitti et al., 2015;Dong et al., 2019;Xu et al., 2020) that promotes high population density (which will feasibly have to be concentrated either in core areas or in spaced high-rises), by positing that there would ideally exist a threshold beyond which such neighborhood densification would cause more ecological harm than good (in terms of the raised LST) and thus adequate green space provision must be incorporated within such frameworks. Beyond its positive effects on the LST and UHI, from a social perspective such urban green spaces are sorely needed to provide high-quality open space for leisure activities that positively influence urban health and well-being (Douglas et al., 2017;Pauleit et al., 2021;Wolch et al., 2014). ...
Urban form is generally accepted to be the most significant aspect controlling LST. This study analyzes the spatio-temporal urban growth pattern in India's rapidly urbanizing National Capital Region (NCR) to discern its dominant urban form based on urban sprawl metrics (USM-a neighborhood based built-up density approach) and traces its spatio-temporal growth patterns. It then gauges the relations between the landscape composition and various development modes of this dominant urban form with the ascertained nighttime LST distribution. The results of the USM based analysis show that the NCR's dominant urban form is constituted by the urban core, which has expanded markedly during the study period of 2000-2018. Within the urban core, nighttime LST increased, particularly during the fall months. Linear regression models (both non-spatial and spatial) reveal a positive relation between the nighttime LST and the built-up area and infilling growth mode. Contrarily, nighttime LST is negatively correlated with the edge-expansion and the respective areas under urbanized green and non-green open spaces. New planning approaches are thus required to restrict infilling based densification and promote well-planned edge-expansion with the designation of new green spaces as well as the greening existing non-green open spaces, particularly in areas underprovided with greenery.
... UGSs may constitute components of the links and nodes that comprise multifunctional green infrastructure networks (Pauleit et al., 2021) that accommodate urban ecosystems and provide various ecosystem services. These ecosystem services deliver several potential environmental, social, and economic benefits (Grafius et al., 2018, p. 558). ...
Urban green spaces (UGSs) deliver ecosystem services and potential economic benefits like increases in proximate residential property prices. The proximity principle (PP) premises that property prices increase as distance to UGS decreases. The PP has generally been confirmed by studies using municipal valuations and market values internationally. Conversely, South African studies have mostly employed municipal valuations and results have rejected the PP. There is an accepted interrelationship, but also often discrepancies, between municipal valuations and market values, presenting scope for this article to explore whether negative results are confirmed when market values replace municipal valuations in PP studies in the South African context. Accordingly, a statistical analysis of market values is completed in the Potchefstroom case study, where five test sites are replicated from studies that employed municipal valuations for longitudinal comparison. Results verify generally higher market values than municipal valuations and confirm the PP in two, but reject the PP in three, of five test sites. Previous studies employing municipal valuations in the case study confirmed the PP in one instance, thus presenting certain, but limited, inconsistencies between findings based on municipal valuation vs. market value. Results suggest that the market's willingness to pay for UGS proximity is sensitive to the ecosystem services and disservices rendered by specific UGS, but not significantly more than reflected in municipal valuations. Overall, findings underscore the need to protect and curate features that encourage willingness to pay for UGS proximity to increase municipal valuations and property taxes to help finance urban greening.
... The GI typologies and their ES provided as the outcome of this research presents a preliminary framework from which to approach all above recommendations to mainstream multifunctionality through GI in planning. The approach holds potential to advance the sustainable development agenda, aligned to SDG 11 and others, for SA and the rest of the Global South where "weak or constrained planning and implementation of policies, plans and regulations" are regarded as major impediments , but also to address possible disparities between the Global South and Global North in GI provision Du Toit et al., 2021;Pauleit et al., 2021). Such a framework would align to a systems perspective to urban governance, and potentially support the better management of the complex cause and effect relationships between social and ecological phenomena (Orr, 2014). ...
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) intend to encourage liveable urban environments by 2030 with a main focus on strategies to achieve environmental and human well-being. In the same way, the multifunctionality principle of green infrastructure planning aims to develop and protect urban green spaces to provide several ecosystem services to increase human well-being whilst protecting the environment. With this in mind, this paper seeks to gather evidence on the nexus between multifunctionality and green infrastructure planning to achieve the SDGs within a South African context. The implementation of green infrastructure to this effect depends on creating awareness of different typologies of green infrastructure elements and the ecosystem services they provide to strengthen the implementation of the green infrastructure concept in urban planning practice. Within the aim of context-specific considerations to green infrastructure planning, green infrastructure typologies possible for implementation within a South Africa urban planning practice context are considerably more limited. A qualitative research approach is employed using case studies identifying specific examples to explore South African green infrastructure typologies and their multifunctionality. Different multifunctionality concepts are recognized by urban planners in South Africa. The research findings highlighted that multifunctionality achieved through green infrastructure planning should inform urban planning practice to promote the integration of ecological considerations. The paper ultimately provides a deeper insight into the expanding field of green infrastructure research in a South African context by underlining context-based multifunctional green infrastructure typologies and accordingly emphasizes, mainstreaming the ecosystem services concept as part of urban planning practice to address the SDGs locally.
... (Lindley et al. 2018) for sub-Saharan Africa and (Breen et al. 2020) for Latin America refer to (often unintentional) effects of GI planning that fails to correspond with local social, ecological and political complexity, including enhanced environmental injustice and poverty, destruction of traditional indigenous practices or local heritage and spiritual connections, as well as lack of resources and capacities of local stakeholders and institutions. However, novel concepts can spark new, more sustainable planning approaches if they are critically explored and discussed with stakeholders that have a good understanding of social, ecological and political aspects, including the voices of minorities who might be affected by planning consequences (Pauleit et al. 2021). ...
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Concepts such as green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and ecosystem services gained popularity in recent discourses on urban planning. Despite their recognition as innovative concepts, all of them share a degree of ambiguity. Fuzziness can be a weakness but also an opportunity to shape novel concepts together with the stakeholders that are supposed to implement them in the planning practice. The paper traces concept development processes of green infrastructure through transdisciplinary knowledge exchange in three different projects, a European and a national research project and a local city-regional project as part of an EU regional cooperation project. In all projects, the green infrastructure concept evolved in different stages. Stakeholder involvement during these stages span from consultation to co-creation. The cases reveal two different approaches: concepts that are developed “for planning practice” might be based on a plethora of insight via consultation, while those “with planning practice” foster co-creation and might result in high acceptance among the involved stakeholders. Depending on the purpose of the novel concept, each approach can be beneficial and result in practice-related and operational products, such as guidance documents or planning strategies. However, the cases also show that in any new context an exchange about fuzzy concepts is not only needed but also a chance to stimulate cooperation and joint understanding about urban challenges and how to address them.
... Architectural and planning aspects of urban GI were traditionally studied by architects, urban planners, landscape architects and landscape ecologists. They worked mostly at the large master plan scale and suggested integration of landscape ecology principles in planning (Ignatieva 2011;Ignatieva et al. 2012). However, there is no comprehensive integral research in Europe aiming at bringing together empirical research, methods to promote urban biodiversity (on different scales and concerning all aspects of urban biodiversity), combining them with social studies and making them useful in practical landscape architecture and urban planning. ...
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.
... Such landscape is likely to cause stress to people (Ulrich, 983; Hartig et al., 997). Other factors include the lack of open spaces for experience (Ward Thompson, 2002) and fragmentation of open spaces which reduces permeability of urban residents to available green spaces in towns and cities (Schneekloth, 200; Benedict and McMahon, 2000). As a result, the impacts to urban residents are; () less frequent viewing of greenery and scenic areas, (2) less participating in nature which can afford serenity and reduce mental fatigue, (3) little time performing and participating in recreational activities in gardens and parks. ...
Green infrastructure network is greenery and open spaces linked by streets, waterways and drainage ways around and between urban areas, at all spatial scales. It is a network of greenery that provides "green lung" for a city and promotes healthy society and enriches human quality of life. The quality of life is gained through physical, cognitive and social interactions of urban residents where provision of greenery and open spaces network for recreational, social and leisure activities are vital for these functioning. This paper presents a preliminary study on the roles of green infrastructure network as social spaces for well-being of urban residents in Taiping, a town in central Peninsular Malaysia. Physical, cognitive and social responses of 32 residents on the green infrastructure were elicited. A large percentage of residents (91%) participated in recreational activities with the greenery and open spaces allowing mobility and active living, thus trigger many positive moods such as feeling serene, cheerful, relaxation, comfort and restful. The physical experiences are associated with social interactions of residents in the open spaces that stimulate community integration and empowerment affording sense of harmony, bonding and attachment to the town. Inasmuch, the town park was a landmark that permits many positive emotional feelings. The study suggests that the characteristics and experience of the green network resulted in progressive physical, cognitive and social functioning of urban residents, hence, offering well-being.
South Africa’s urban population is increasing, and in parallel, urban green infrastructure has shown an increase in alien tree species, e.g., mulberry ( Morus sp.), oak ( Quercus spp.) and plane trees ( Platanus spp.) to name a few. This causes ecological problems since alien trees are often more water-demanding and competitive than indigenous trees, but they also increase the abundance of respiratory diseases often triggered by an allergic reaction towards the pollen of those alien taxa. In the current study, utilizing 7-day volumetric spore traps, we illustrate that the most abundant tree pollen in the two largest cities of South Africa, Cape Town and Johannesburg, is produced by alien trees with a high risk of allergenicity. This adds another aspect related to public health when evaluating plant species composition in urban forestry and urban ecology, which underlines the urgency of more intense monitoring. More importantly, this - for South Africa - newly emphasized risk for public health underlines the applicability of current directives (i.e., Spatial Development Frameworks (SDFs), localized Precinct Plans, Land Use Schemes (LUSs)) and implementation options in urban planning. Here, we present ideas that may be implemented in such a framework. From both a public health and an ecological perspective, it is recommended to plant indigenous trees like Combretum erythrophyllum , Vachellia and Senegallia spp. that have fewer ecosystem disservices, like a lower impact on public health due to lower allergenicity/lower pollen occurrence and providing more ecosystem services such as lower water needs.
Traditional planning practices, wherein attention is directed at the provision of single functions or zoning, have led to the emergence of lost spaces in cities like Kuala Lumpur. Elevated highways are a prominent contributor to the formation of these lost spaces and are seen as a hurdle in achieving a sustainable compact city. Studies suggest that green infrastructure (GI) planning, which aims to promote multifunctionality in spatial planning, is a suitable approach to address this dilemma. To identify the benefits of the GI approach in mitigating lost spaces underneath elevated highways in Kuala Lumpur City, this study utilized two methods: site observation and expert interviews. The results suggest that GI planning can achieve benefits ranging from economic aspects, such as increasing property value, to social aspects, such as promoting a healthier urban lifestyle. However, such benefits may vary as these spaces have different typologies in terms of accessibility, size, location, and surrounding context. Nonetheless, the GI approach can be seen as the key to achieving a sustainable compact city, since it supports the ability of urban spaces to provide multiple benefits concurrently. Thus, the identification of its benefits could lead to the more sustainable planning, design, and management of lost spaces.
In recent years, the Republic of Belarus has developed the practice of introducing elements of green infrastructure into urban development programs. This is a contribution to the transition to environmentally friendly production technologies, the construction of buildings with a low share of energy and resource consumption, the implementation of environmental-oriented transport infrastructure, the use of effective technologies for the collection, disposal and processing of waste, and an increase in amount of green areas in cities. From 2016 to the present, the country is implementing a 5-year project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) “Supporting Green Urban Development in Small and Medium-Sized Cities in Belarus”. The objective of the Project is the growth of development of green urban development plans and pilot green urban development initiatives in the cities of Polack, Navapolack, Navahrudak related to energy efficiency and sustainable transport. An important component in the formation of green urban planning is the operation of spatial information. For this purpose, mapping and geoinformation approaches were applied in the study. They made it possible to identify the modern features of the distribution of green city indicators in pilot cities, carry out their analysis and propose a new development strategy that will improve the blue-green infrastructure. For each city, in the instrumental geographic information systems ArcGIS and QGIS, a methodology was developed and indicators were mapped that characterize condition of residential areas, quality of buildings, population density, location of green areas, proximity of public transport stops and other urban infrastructure, tourism service infrastructure and the distribution of energy users and sources of CO2 emissions. Based on the results of GIS analysis of the obtained layers of indicators of the profile of the green city, a spatial development strategy was formed. The information of the thematic layers on indicators of urban development became the basis for the creation of a series of web maps in ArcGIS Online, which are currently being discussed by residents of key cities. The cartographic materials prepared within the project can be finalized and used to work with city administrations, as well as to inform the population about the state of the city and the decisions taken.
Ecological considerations should be an integral part of the decision-making processes of urban planners. Specifically, ecological aspects used in urban ecology, such as green infrastructure and ecosystem services, are substantiated by literature as strategies for improving quality of life, human health, and well-being. Studies dealing with such concepts in the Global South recently gained interest; however, these lack empirical evidence on the integration thereof in mainstream South African urban planning practice. This article conducts a preliminary investigation into the knowledge of ecological aspects of a sample of South African urban planners and their willingness to implement ecological aspects in urban planning practice. The new environmental paradigm scale is employed to determine the environmental worldview (ecocentric or anthro-pocentric) among respondents and how this relates to their knowledge of ecological aspects. The initial research sample consisted of a total of 283 questionnaires distributed. Although findings of this article are based on a low response rate (15%) of 42 documented responses, it did not affect the validity of the data collected in this context. The initial findings indicated that the environmental worldview of the sample of planners is only one factor influencing their perspective on incorporating ecological considerations. Low to moderate knowledge and awareness regarding ecological aspects such as ecosystem services, green infrastructure, and multi-functionality are argued to be main factors preventing integration in urban planning practice. Findings emphasize the need for context-based implementation strategies and broad recommendations are made for the planning profession as a point of departure to introduce or ingrain ecological considerations.
Green infrastructure is a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas aimed to achieve sustainable development. Its planning and management are determined based on governance approaches. However, studies on the governance of green infrastructure in Ethiopian cities are scarce. This study, therefore, aims to analyze expert's perceptions on the planning and governance of green infrastructure: principles, policy and planning themes, land use regulations, and implementation that are expected to affect the planning and implementation of green infrastructure. A quantitative and qualitative research design was employed to obtain and analyze data. Our result reveals that relying on an authoritarian model of output-legitimacy, sectoral approach, and uncoordinated land-use led to weak governance of UGI. Our findings suggest the need to develop a governance arrangement that incorporates negotiations, participation, and inter and cross-sectoral policy approaches; developing zoning regulations and land use plans and changes in a participatory and transparent manner, and developing green infrastructure-based planning policies are important for the future development of UGI. Our findings could generate scientific debate by identifying the challenges that experts are facing when trying to integrate and implement GI principles in a particular governance context. Applying these green infrastructure planning principles can also guide future GI development efforts not only in Ethiopia but also in other African cities with similar contexts.
As much as people benefit from the ecosystem services provided by nature, ecosystem disservices also impact daily lives. This is especially true for many urban communities in the Global South due to (1) the often greater diversity of ecosystem disservices and (2) higher vulnerabilities, which together can lead to greater impacts of ecosystem disservices in many Global South settings. This chapter provides an overview of the current understandings of urban ecosystem disservices and their assessment and management with an emphasis on the Global South, albeit with reference to the Global North where useful. This overview reveals a lack of detailed and systematic empirical research on urban ecosystem disservices generally, but even more so in the Global South, despite the greater diversity and vulnerability in Global South settings. This needs to be acknowledged in urban ecology framings of urban dynamics in the Global South and translated into better integration of both ecosystem services and disservices within common research, policy or management frameworks. It is only through such integration that appropriate context-relevant policy directions and management options can be identified, thereby promoting the wellbeing of urban citizens in the Global South.
There is an increasing recognition of the contribution of cultural ecosystem services to human wellbeing, however, research is scarce on the topic in the Global South. Evidence on urban cultural ecosystem services tends to focus on recreation and cities from the Global North. Cultural services such as social cohesion and cultural heritage are often overlooked from research. Global South realities are different from the Global North, given the proportion of indigenous communities, urbanisation dynamics, and environmental inequities. This chapter will address these topics by synthesising research carried out in the Global South and contrasting results with general discourses derived from studies in the Global North. The chapter closes by considering the way forward towards the research of ecosystem services in the Global South.
To capture the many complexities, we adopt a broad approach to urban governance, encompassing the diverse combinations of formal, informal and/or customary/traditional institutions and practices in urban areas of the Global South. The broad arguments are illustrated with appropriate examples and boxed case studies to illustrate important dimensions of diversity but also the scope for generalisation. In many contexts, inclusion of urban ecology, biodiversity, and green–blue infrastructure within urban governance is quite novel, thus presenting challenges to often rigid and outdated systems in times of unprecedented change. Hence, the chapter addresses key aspects needing change, including guidelines and examples of how this has been and can be achieved. A comprehensive and holistic approach is vital to provide a logical context for prioritisation and integration. This will facilitate joined-up action to achieve multiple co-benefits through targeted interventions rather than a scatter gun approach. Novel approaches that prioritise transdisciplinary co-design or co-production over conventional adversarial and top-down expert-led mechanisms have considerable potential in this regard. These are examined across relevant spatial scales, from key global agreements and conventions, to national initiatives, local authorities and the potential of transnational municipal networks.
The context of the Global South’s urban ecosystems is often poorly understood or accounted for when applying the Urban Regulating Ecosystem Services (URES) concept, primarily because most available information is from the Global North. Thus, there is a need to better understand the unique socio-economic, political and environmental context of urban areas in the Global South when addressing issues related to urban ecosystem services, environmental quality, climate change and environmental justice. This chapter provides a more nuanced perspective on how URES can address urban environmental and climate change problems, thereby improving the human condition and policy formulation. It first defines URES using selected literature and discusses differences in the environmental and socio-economic characteristics and trajectories of cities in the Global South relative to the Global North. Several global examples overview the effectiveness and relevance of URES in the context of mitigation and adaptation to environmental pollution, extreme climatic events and sustainable development. Future research needs and environmental policy implications are also discussed. It concludes by emphasising the need for more interconnected and equal cooperation and knowledge exchange between Global North and South countries, when applying and studying URES concepts and practices.
Social Ecology is an emerging scientific field within sustainability science investigating the relationships between society and nature. It is based on the core concept of societal relations to nature. Essential characteristics are: (1) Problem-orientation: The starting point of research is concrete, societal problems with regard to ecological crisis phenomena such as climate change, waste management or protection of biodiversity. (2) Inter- and transdisciplinarity: Research combines academic disciplines with knowledge, values and interests of societal actors. The central aim is achieving learning processes between science and society. (3) Interrelation of theory and empirical research: The concept of societal relations to nature is the theoretical framework, which guides empirical studies. The empirical results in turn contribute to the further development of theories and concepts. (4) System approach: Given the complex interactions between natural and societal processes and structures at different temporal, spatial and social scales, the approach of social-ecological systems is applied. (5) Critical science: Contributing to social-ecological transformations, Social Ecology deals with ignorance, uncertainty and disputed knowledge. Social Ecology critically reflects on the role of researchers and on the limits of scientific knowledge production. Applying Social Ecology this chapter examines three challenges of urban areas in the Global South: rural–urban migration, urban agriculture and green infrastructure.
All of humankind, urban and rural, rich and poor and whether living in the Global South or the Global North rely to some degree on provisioning ecosystem services such as food, water, timber, fibre and medicinal products. However, in contrast to the Global North the contextual forces shaping many urban livelihoods in the Global South necessitate that many people access the needed provisioning services themselves by directly harvesting or collecting from the immediate, local urban and peri-urban environments, or purchasing them from those who do. Thus, the need for and local availability of provisioning services has profound implications for not only the quality of urban livelihoods, but also the urban ecology in relation to extent and use of urban green infrastructure from where the provisioning services are sourced and the species within them. This chapter summarises compelling evidence from throughout the Global South regarding the extent of use of locally sourced provisioning services by urban communities. It shows that Global South contexts prompt the use of a diverse array of resource types and hundreds of different species in specific settings, much greater than found in Global North cities. The chapter explores the types, extent and nature of locally sourced provisioning services and contributions that they make to urban livelihoods via (1) direct household provisioning, (2) cash savings, (3) safety nets during adverse times, (4) income generation and (5) culture and traditions. It then explores the local-scale factors that influence the nature and extent of use, including proximity to harvest or collection site, access, local ecological knowledge, migrant status, culture and affluence. Thereafter, the social and ecological effects of local harvesting are considered, which potentially effect the sustainability of sought-after species and populations. The chapter ends with pointers on how the quality and quantity of locally produced provisioning services can be secured and enhanced and thereby better support urban livelihoods, especially of the urban poor, in the Global South.
Cities are designed and built to be inhabited by humans, and therefore rely on connectivity to ensure the flow of services, movement, communication and agency for people as well as the flow of benefits or services from nature to people. In this chapter, we focus on the connectivity between the social and ecological components that urban systems are comprised of. We describe the social fabric as the social connection, how people connect with people, which is particularly relevant to the Global South, given the high density of people and rapid population growth in urban centres. People are also impacted by their surrounding environment which forms the focus of the second component where we look at the relationship between people and nature. This social-ecological connection represents natures’ contribution to people, or the provision of ecosystem services. The long-term sustainable use of these ecosystem benefits can only be ensured through the protection of nature, which relies on establishing ecological connectivity, connecting nature with nature. The relationships between these elements result in an emergent outcome which we understand as the city. Influencing the city therefore requires understanding these social and ecological components and how to ensure connectivity.
The concept of sustainability embraces the conservation of the environment, cultural preservation, economic stability and overcoming of social problems. To ensure urban sustainability, one of the crucial factors is the environmental health, in which the environment should be kept in the best condition in developing countries thereby leading to reduction of environmental pollution. Green corridors in cities are one such way to ensure that the green areas are being used optimally. Such studies do exist in Malaysia but there is no established and published implementation. There is a need to analyse and study the current problems of the existing green corridors plans. This paper helps to visualise all the six suggested routes of the green corridors that had been made in Kuala Lumpur city. It discusses the opportunities and limitations of the plans as well as ways to improve for a successful implementation of green corridors in Kuala Lumpur.
Increased levels of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, a legacy of the industrial revolution, population growth pressures, and consumerist lifestyle choices, are the main contributors to human-induced climate change. Climate change is commensurate of warming temperatures, reductions in rainfall, increased frequency of extreme weather events, and contributions toward declining public health trends. Green Infrastructure (GI) presents diverse opportunities to mediate adverse effects, while simultaneously delivering human health, well-being, environmental, economic, and social benefits to contemporary urban dwellers. To identify the current state of GI knowledge, a systematic quantitative literature review of peer-reviewed articles (n = 171) was undertaken using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) method. Temporal publication trends, geographical and geological information of research efforts, as well as research focus areas were recorded and reported against each article. The findings of this review confirm the research area to be in a state of development in most parts of the world, with the vast majority of the research emerging from the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Cooler climates produced the majority of research, which were found largely to be of a traditional research article format. The GI research area is firmly dominated by foci comprising planning and policy, environmental and ecological, and social content, although modest attempts have also appeared in health and wellbeing, economic, and quality/performance of green infrastructure areas. Knowledge gaps identified by this review as requiring attention for research growth were identified as: (i) the ambiguity of terminology and the limited broad understanding of GI, and (ii) the absence of research produced in the continents of Asia and South America, as well as in regions with warmer climates, which are arguably equally valuable research locations as cooler climate bands.
Durante las últimas décadas la provincia de Chacabuco, en el norte de Santiago, se ha transformado profundamente en términos territoriales debido a la instalación de mega- proyectos urbanos para segmentos sociales acomodados, en contextos que hasta ese entonces eran eminentemente rurales. Desde la ecología política suburbana analizamos las distintas estrategias económicas, políticas y metabólicas con vista a los recursos del agua y el suelo a través de las cuales grandes grupos económicos-financieros, apoyados por el Estado, han producido un paisaje desigual de archipiélagos. Los métodos utilizados en este trabajo incluyen revisión de prensa, entrevistas en profundidad con actores privados, estatales, y comunitarios, y un análisis de los registros de derechos de agua en la oficina de Conservador de Bienes Raíces en la provincia de Chacabuco. En términos empíricos y conceptuales, demostramos que la producción de la nueva periferia urbana y sus patrones de fragmentación socioterritorial y ambiental no son resultados de fuerzas abstractas de globalización, sino de acciones deliberadas de comodificación, concentración (de derechos de propiedad) y financiarización de recursos naturales como el suelo y el agua.
Urban green infrastructure provides ecosystem services that are essential to human wellbeing. A dearth of national-scale assessments in the Global South has precluded the ability to explore how political regimes, such as the forced racial segregation in South Africa during and after Apartheid, have influenced the extent of and access to green infrastructure over time. We investigate whether there are disparities in green infrastructure distributions across race and income geographies in urban South Africa. Using open-source satellite imagery and geographic information, along with national census statistics, we find that public and private green infrastructure is more abundant, accessible, greener and more treed in high-income relative to low-income areas, and in areas where previously advantaged racial groups (i.e. White citizens) reside. Areas with White residents report 6-fold higher income, have 11.7% greater tree cover, 8.9% higher vegetation greenness and live 700m closer to a public park than areas with predominantly Black African, Indian, and Coloured residents. The inequity in neighborhood greenness levels has been maintained (for Indian and Coloured areas) and further entrenched (for Black African areas) since the end of Apartheid in 1994 across the country. We also find that these spatial inequities are mirrored in both private (gardens) and public (street verges, parks, green belts) spaces, hinting at the failure of governance structures to plan for and implement urban greening initiatives. By leveraging open-access satellite data and methods presented here, there is scope for civil society to monitor urban green infrastructure over time and thereby hold governments accountable to addressing environmental justice imperatives in the future. Interact with the data here: green-apartheid.zsv.co.za
Gathering of uncultivated food from green spaces, also known as foraging, is observed in urban areas across the world, but the literature focuses predominantly on the global north. Our study examines the existing urban land management structure and its approach to urban foraging in the eastern coastal region of South Africa. Through interviews with municipal officials in nine cities, we identified different stakeholders and their roles in urban green space management. We then used network analysis to represent interactions and influence of these stakeholders, and environmental worldviews to determine organisational and perceptual barriers to and enablers of foraging in urban green spaces. The policy on urban green space management, as well as land managers themselves are amenable to the concept of foraging in public spaces. Lack of knowledge on wild indigenous species and sustainable offtake, ambiguous, coarse, or lacking policy, and normative views of pristine nature may hinder foraging. We recommend pathways for policy and stakeholder partnerships to incorporate sustainable foraging in their biodiversity conservation and land stewardship strategies.
Globally, approximately one billion people benefit from contributions of wild foods to their food security and dietary diversity. Wild foods are known to be important in rural communities in terms of food and micronutrient provision, diversifying diets, reducing vulnerability to non-communicable diseases and overall health. However, the potential contribution of wild foods towards food security and dietary diversity in urban food systems has been largely overlooked. This study examined the contribution of wild foods to household dietary diversity in two towns in South Africa, based on a survey of 137 households. Household diets were quite diverse, with half (51%) having consumed ≥ 8 food groups, 39% consumed 6 or 7 food groups, and only 10% recorded ≤ 5 food groups in the previous 48 h. Wild foods were prevalent across the sample, with 62% of the households consuming them to some degree. Wild vegetables and fruits were the most common wild foods, consumed by 96 and 79% of the households, respectively. Although wild foods had limited significance on overall dietary diversity, they exhibited substantial contributions within particular food groups. For example, the consumption of vegetables and oil and fats was most prevalent among households consuming wild foods than those who did not. The findings show that wild foods could contribute towards diversifying urban diets at a micro-level, within particular food groups consumed, such as vegetables and fruits. Hence, wild foods are important in ameliorating the monotonous diets of some households and in turn promoting dietary diversity.
This study assessed the economic value of public urban green spaces (UGSs) in Kuala Lumpur (KL) city by using the hedonic price method (HPM). It involves 1269 house units from eight sub-districts in KL city. Based on the hedonic price method, this study formulates a global and local model. The global model and local model are analyzed using ordinary least square (OLS) regression and geographically weighted regression (GWR). By using the hedonic price method, the house price serves as a proxy for public urban green spaces' economic value. The house price is regressed against the set of three variables which are structural characteristics, neighborhood attributes, and environmental attributes. Measurements of interest in this study are environmental characteristics, including distance to public UGSs and size of public UGSs. The results of the OLS regression illustrated that Taman Rimba Kiara and Taman Tasik Titiwangsa provide the maximum economic value. On average, reducing the distance of the house location to Taman Rimba Kiara by 10 m increased the house price by RM1700. Similarly, increasing the size of the Taman Tasik Titiwangsa by 1000 m2 increases the house price by RM60,000. The advantage of the GWR result is the economic value of public UGSs which can be analyzed by the specific location according to sub-district. From this study, the GWR result exposed that the economic values of Taman Rimba Bukit Kiara and Taman Tasik Titiwangsa were not significant in each of the sub-district within KL city. Taman Rimba Bukit Kiara was negatively significant at all sub-districts except Setapak and certain house locations located at the sub-district of KL. In contrast, Taman Tasik Titiwangsa was positively significant at all sub-districts except certain house locations at the sub-districts of Batu, KL, Setapak, and KL city center. In conclusion, results show that the house price is influenced by the environmental attribute. However, even though both of these public UGSs generate the highest economic value based on distance and size, its significant values with an expected sign are only obtained based on the specific house location as verified by the local model. In terms of model comparison, the local model was better compared with the global model.
Shade creation and radiation modification by trees is an important way of alleviating the urban heat island and improving the outdoor thermal environment. However, a major challenge is still present in numerical models: How can shade creation and radiation modification by trees be realistically represented? To address this challenge, this paper proposes a new three-dimensional model of radiation modification by shade trees for four common tree species in Guangzhou, China: Ficus microcarpa, Mangifera indica, Michelia alba and Bauhinia blakeana. Its accuracy is verified with field measurements. The results show that the proposed model can accurately simulate the canopy attenuation of incoming solar radiation (SR) (d=0.76~0.93) and long-wave radiation (LWR) (RMSE=2.7W/m2~12W/m2) in the case of Ficus microcarpa, Mangifera indica, and Bauhinia blakeana. But for Michelia alba, the difference between measured and simulated values can be large (>60W/m2), leading to a high RMSE (25W/m2 ~194 W/m2) . The predictability of surface energy budget and thermal comfort in urban environments is enhanced by incorporating the proposed model into a heat balance model to obtain the mean radiant temperature (MRT). Future development and application of this numerical model will provide useful guidelines for urban landscape management and sustainable urban planning in terms of heat island mitigation.
The 21st century has been called the urban century, as most of the human population is now living in urban areas. Current and future urbanization is mostly taking place at great speed in the Global South. The challenges are enormous and request diff erent models of urbanization as developed in the Global North. High levels of informality and poverty will not go away in the decades to come, while capacity will remain limited to adequately provide urban dwellers with basic infrastructure and economic opportunities. Grave
economic shocks and environmental disasters such as experienced in both the Jakarta and Addis Ababa urban regions are likely to remain features of these regions. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to strengthen the resilience of these cities in the best possible ways. The continued existence of agriculture in and near urban areas is an important means for this purpose that, however, is still poorly, or at best intermittently, acknowledged by politicians and urban planners, who are inspired by visions of “modern” cities where agriculture is rather a negligible activity.
Urban green space (UGS), as a form of green infrastructure, has been given increasing attention in urban planning and its policies. The quality of a UGS is fundamental for the sustainable development of the urban economy, society, environment, and quality of human life, although UGS is unevenly distributed within cities. Aiming to analyze the quality of UGS at the scale of Jiedaos in China, this paper took Haizhu district in Guangzhou as a case study based on collected data from 2010 and aerial imagery from 2012. The Urban Neighborhood Green Index (UNGI) was established by combining four weighted parameters: the green index (P1), the density of buildings (P2), proximity to green areas (P3) and building height (P4). Results from comparing with green index show that (1) the UNGI performed better for UGS planning due to its ability of uncovering impact of the built environment and its accessibility on quality of UGS; (2) the UGS has significant effects on neighbors, which underlies social inequity of UGS supply and presents rich information for urban planning and decision making; (3) a small green field attaching to a community plays a key role in fulfilling the need of neighbors for green space, fitness, and leisure in China, which is usually ignored due to the ownership of private property. It suggests recognizing UGS and improving its quality in old towns as well as improving urban villages characterized by poor quality of green space with green infrastructures. The UNGI can inform city planners regarding their consideration of UGS, and it can contribute to measurements of sustainability and the development of green infrastructure.
Managing stormwater on urban surfaces with blue-green infrastructure (BGI) is being increasingly adopted as an alternative to conventional pipe-based stormwater management in cities. BGI combats water problems and provides multiple benefits for cities, including improved livability and enhanced biodiversity. The paper examines six municipality-led pilot projects from Beijing and Copenhagen, through a review of documents, site observations and interviews with project managers. Beijing’s projects attempt to divert from a pipe-based approach but are dominated by less BGI-based solutions; they could benefit from more integration of multiple benefits with stormwater management. Copenhagen’s projects combine stormwater management with amenity improvement, but lack focus on stormwater utilization. Reviewed municipality-led pilot projects are shown to play an important role in both testing new solutions and upscaling them in the process of developing more sustainable cities. Key lessons are extracted and a simple guideline synthesized. This guideline suggests necessary considerations for a holistic solution that combines stormwater management and urban space improvements. Key lessons for sustainable solutions include defining a clear water technique priority, targeting both small and big rain events, strengthening ‘vertical design’ and providing multiple benefits. An integrated stormwater management and landscape design process is a prerequisite to the meaningful implementation of these solutions. Research and documentation integrated with pilot projects will help upscale the practice at city scale.
Coastal mega-cities will face increasing flood risk under the current protection standard because of future climate change. Previous studies seldom evaluate the comparative effectiveness of alternative options in reducing flood risk under the uncertainty of future extreme rainfall. Long-term planning to manage flood risk is further challenged by uncertainty in socioeconomic factors and contested stakeholder priorities. In this study, we conducted a knowledge co-creation process together with infrastructure experts, policy makers, and other stakeholders to develop an integrated framework for flexible testing of multiple flood-risk mitigation strategies under the condition of deep uncertainties. We implemented this framework to the reoccurrence scenarios in the 2050s of a record-breaking extreme rainfall event in central Shanghai. Three uncertain factors, including precipitation, urban rain island effect and the decrease of urban drainage capacity caused by land subsidence and sea level rise, are selected to build future extreme inundation scenarios in the case study. The risk-reduction performance and cost-effectiveness of all possible solutions are examined across different scenarios. The results show that drainage capacity decrease caused by sea-level rise and land subsidence will contribute the most to the rise of future inundation risk in central Shanghai. The combination of increased green area, improved drainage system, and the deep tunnel with a runoff absorbing capacity of 30% comes out to be the most favorable and robust solution which can reduce the future inundation risk by 85% (±8%). This research indicates that to conduct a successful synthesized trade-off analysis of alternative flood control solutions under future deep uncertainty is bound to be a knowledge co-creation process of scientists, decision makers, field experts, and other stakeholders.
Background:
Urban green open space is a valuable resource for physical activities of urban inhabitants and has the potential to reduce chronic illness and improve health. Research on the relationships between green open space and physical activity is incomplete and limited in China. Thus, the study examines how the urban green open space contributes to physical activity.
Methods:
A questionnaire was designed based on the social ecology theory to investigate the physical activity of 513 residents in urban green open space. We use the time and frequency of residents exercising in urban green space to measure physical activity, and use the factor analysis to synthesize a large number of original factors (i.e., infrastructure, safety, accessibility, landscape quality, and space environment) into relatively few composite indicators. Based on the collected data of the cross-sectional population, the Order Probit regression model was constructed to analyze how urban green open space affects the residents' physical activity from the perspective of social ecology.
Results:
① in community factors: accessibility is significantly positive correlation with residents' physical activity, and there is no significant correlation between safety and physical activity; ②in natural factors: space environment and landscape quality are not significantly correlated with residents' physical activity; ③ in built environmental factors: infrastructures, the area of green space, the size of open space, and entertainment facilities are significantly correlated to residents' activity. Basketball courts, volleyball courts, swimming pools, and sports equipment will promote physical activity; ④ apart from the attributes of green open space, other factors are significantly correlated to physical activity in the green open space, e.g. having a companion.
Conclusions:
Urban green open space plays an important role in promoting physical activity especially among the women and the old, and improving the attributes (such as accessibility, infrastructures, the area of green space, the size of open space and entertainment facilities) of the urban green open space and trying to set up group sports proper to play with companion (like "square dancing" and "Tai Chi") can promote Chinese residents' physical activity so as to improve public health. The results are significant to facilitate environment health.
The capital of China, Beijing, has a history of more than 800 years of urbanization, representing a unique site for studies of urban ecology. Urbanization can severely impact butterfly communities, yet there have been no reports of the species richness and distribution of butterflies in urban parks in Beijing. Here, we conducted the first butterfly survey in ten urban parks in Beijing and estimated butterfly species richness. Subsequently, we examined the distribution pattern of butterfly species and analyzed correlations between butterfly species richness with park variables (age, area and distance to city center), and richness of other bioindicator groups (birds and plants). We collected 587 individual butterflies belonging to 31 species from five families; 74% of the species were considered cosmopolitan. The highest butterfly species richness and abundance was recorded at parks located at the edge of city and species richness was significantly positively correlated with distance from city center (p < 0.05). No significant correlations were detected between the species richness and park age, park area and other bioindicator groups (p > 0.05). Our study provides the first data of butterfly species in urban Beijing, and serves as a baseline for further surveys and conservation efforts.
Urban growth in and around European cities affects multiple aspects of the environment including green spaces. On the one hand, many cities struggle with environmental problems, overcrowding and overuse resulting from high population densities. On the other hand, high densities result in better access to public green spaces, effective public transport, or less demand for resources. Consequently, finding a balance between density and high liveability in a green and sustainable urban environment is a major challenge for urban planning. Although many studies report and discuss the provision of green spaces in European cities, they fail to relate green space provision to the potential demand by urban dwellers, and to the extent differences can be detected between types of green. Against this background, this paper develops a systematic understanding of green space supply and its relation to the residential density of cities. In so doing, it detects turning points of green space supply in 905 European cities. The results show that green space supply is sensitive to the type of green space, population size and location of cities. Particularly the relation between residential density and the supply with urban green spaces covering parks, public gardens or cemeteries, indicate turning points: at certain residential densities the urban green space supply is decreasing. At a certain residential density, the urban green space supply is highest and cities have a high potential to optimize the balance between sustainability and liveability. However, there is no single optimal residential density. Rather, turning points are different between cities of different density and location in Europe and between different types of neighborhoods within cities. Therefore, different optimum values need to be defined sensitive to these characteristics. For most of the European cities, a decrease of population or built-area cannot be expected in the future. In this situation, the approach to identifying the turning points for green space supply as presented in this paper can be used as a comparative method. This informs green space policies for defining acceptable densities of urban development and corresponding standards for the provision of urban green space.
Cities in sub-Saharan Africa are currently confronted with a multitude, and hitherto unexperienced, magnitude of transformative phenomena such as rising inequality, exclusion, poverty and increased residency in informal settlements. These stressors are posing challenges to cities in terms of housing, infrastructure and provision of basic services as well as climate change adaptation. Despite the high dynamics and novel characteristics of city transformation, this urban transition seems to take place rather ‘quietly’ and has, so far, obviously hardly been understood or appreciated by researchers and governments. Subsequently, the multifaceted and extremely challenging problems associated with the process of urbanisation cannot be adequately addressed. Green infrastructure (GI) is currently emerging as a concept for cost-effective urban sustainability and livelihood security. Preservation and provision of accessible urban green spaces is increasingly recognised as an essential part of the liveability of cities. Extensive literature review revealed that the systematic integration of GI concepts in urban planning is seen by an increasing number of researchers as an essential approach to tackle major current and future challenges. Based on the literature review, we suggest that broadening the concept of urban GI by linking it to governance and rights-based conceptualisations will have the potential to unlock more resourceful paths for sustainable, green, and inclusive urban development of cities in Southern and Eastern Africa.
The circumstances under which different ecosystem service benefits can be realised differ. Benefits tend to be co-produced and enabled by multiple interacting social, ecological, and technological factors, which is particularly evident in cities. As many cities are undergoing rapid change, these factors need to be better understood and accounted for, especially for those most in need of benefits. We propose a framework of three systemic filters that affect the flow of ecosystem service benefits: (1) the interactions between green, blue and built infrastructures, (2) the regulatory power and governance of institutions, and (3) people’s individual and shared perceptions and values. We argue that more fully connecting green and blue infrastructure to its urban systems context and highlighting dynamic interactions among the three filters is key to understanding how and why ecosystem services have variable distribution, continuing inequities in who benefits and the long-term resilience of the flows of benefits.
It is widely recognized that brownfield regeneration to green space is a sustainable form of urban development. However, it is essential to choose those brownfields that have the greatest potential to be integrated into urban green infrastructure (GI). This paper addresses how to quantitatively assess the ecological potential of coal mining brownfields at the city level, and looks at how these brownfields can be best adapted to enhance the GI system. Taking Xuzhou as an example, an ecological potential assessment method for brownfield regeneration to green space is established considering both its ecological importance and the capacity of maintaining GI connectivity. The results show that more than half of the coal mining brownfields have relatively higher ecological importance values, and only four patches play an important role in maintaining GI connectivity. The final ecological potential values of brownfield regeneration to green space are obtained by overlaying the values of ecological importance and the capacity values of maintaining GI connectivity. Then, all the brownfields are divided into five groups according to their ecological potential values, which are significantly different in each group. Around 51.35% of the brownfields have a high or very high potential for restoration to GI, which are distributed in the southeastern part of the western mining area and the central part of the eastern mining area. The presented method can assist reclamation scientists and urban planners in decision making based on quantitative analysis.
China’s recent environmental turn in urban development has been marked by a rush of urban green projects. Many city governments have lately focused on green infrastructure of a specific kind – the greenway. This article provides a preliminary assessment of the contributions of greenways to a new, environmentally benign form of urbanisation advocated by the central government. Through a case study of the city of Maanshan, it reveals that Chinese greenways are not just a sustainability fix for the economy’s sake, as many urban green projects in China tend to be conceived. Although the greenways are far from being effective in stimulating tourism, they can promote urban liveability beyond the symbolic and lend material support to active travel. These findings endorse an analytical approach that gives equal emphasis to both the physical and political nature of emerging green infrastructure initiatives to more fully appreciate the logics and functions in their ongoing popularity.
Spatial planning decision-making is progressively acknowledging that nature-based solutions are substantially beneficial to urban communities and their host cities. This paper is a meta-study of the current state of spatial planning practice in South Africa, with special focus on nature-based solutions and green infrastructure planning. The complexities and perceptions relating to green infrastructure planning in South Africa is presented, based on the findings of nine independent studies conducted between 2014 and 2018. The collective interpretation of these findings are thematically reported on in terms of (i) the concept of Green Infrastructure as perceived from a local perspective, ii2) the functionality of green infrastructure in local (urban and rural) context, (iii) the benefits (and value) of green infrastructure in local context which probe to be contradicting international accepted theory, and (iv) long term planning strategies and opportunities relating to green infrastructure provision in South Africa and Africa. The paper emphasizes the importance of context-based planning based on the unique considerations illustrated in the (South) African case studies which amongst others disproved the green compensation hypothesis and disproved the green proximity principle. As a result, the paper calls on long-term strategies to align green infrastructure as part of mainstream spatial planning approaches, along with value capturing approaches to sensitize decision-makers to prioritize green infrastructure within broader land-use planning approaches.
Growing and densifying cities set a challenge for preserving and enhancing green spaces to cool urban spaces. Green roofs, involving the planting of vegetation on rooftops, are regarded as an alternative approach to enhancing urban greenery and urban cooling. For better cooling performances, it is essential to reasonably configure green roofs, especially in real and complex neighborhoods. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of morphological characteristics of green roofs on pedestrian cooling in real and complex neighborhoods. In specific, based on an ENVI-met model, we studied the effect of greening layout, coverage ratio, vegetation height, and building height on pedestrian air temperature reduction in the tropical city of Hangzhou, China. Results indicate green roofs could generate moderate effects on pedestrian air temperature reduction (around 0.10–0.30 °C), while achieving a cooling performance of 0.82 °C. Green roofs in upwind zones were able to generate the most favorable cooling performance, while green roofs in downwind zones made slight differences to pedestrian thermal environments. Green roofs with a low coverage ratio were not useful for lowering pedestrian temperature, and a greening coverage ratio of 25–75% in upwind zones was cost-effective in real neighborhoods. Locations that were horizontally close to green roofs enjoyed better cooling performances. Increasing vegetation height could strengthen cooling effects of green roofs, while an increase in building height weakened the cooling performance. Nevertheless, higher building height could enhance pedestrian cooling performances because of building shading effects. In addition, because of wind effects and building shading, building height limits for the cooling performance of green roofs could be higher than 60 m.
Urban green infrastructure is an approach to sustainable urban development. The aim of this research is to examine the drivers for urban green infrastructure development and planning in Bahir Dar and Hawassa cities in Ethiopia. Data was collected using focus group discussion, interview and observation. In this study, we concentrated on the main drivers for urban green infrastructure planning and development, environmental stewardship, spatial planning, economic development, policy issues, local/regional needs, stakeholders’ interest and strategies/action plans. The results show that, among the listed drivers, the top priority drivers in Bahir Dar are spatial planning, economic development and environmental stewardship. In Hawassa, these are similar although top is economic development and second is spatial planning followed by environmental stewardship.
Background
Population growth at all scales and rapid rates of urbanization, particularly in the global South, are placing increasing pressure on ecosystems and their ability to provide services essential for human well-being. The spatial consideration of threats to ecosystem services related to changes in land use is necessary in order to avoid undue impacts on society due to the loss or reduced supply of ecosystem services. This study assesses the potential threats of land use change from strategic and local development proposals to ecosystem services in the city of Durban.
Methods
We analysed the spatial relationship between five categories of ecosystem service hotspots (carbon storage, water yield, sediment retention, nutrient retention and flood attenuation) and urban land use change related to selected strategic planning proposals, development proposals and sand-mining applications in Durban, South Africa (eThekwini Municipality) with a view to determining the consequences for progress towards a more sustainable development path in the city. We identified the potential levels of threat related to habitat destruction or transformation for the five categories of ecosystem services and a subset of 13 ecosystem service hotspots, using GIS spatial analysis tools.
Results
The results show that on average, should Durban’s strategic development plans be realised, approximately 42% loss of ecosystem service hotspots is expected in the two municipal town-planning regions assessed. With respect to development applications between 2009 and 2012, approximately 36% of all environmental impact assessments and 84% of sand mining applications occurred within ecosystem service hotspots within Durban.
Discussion
The findings highlight the tension between short-term development pressures and longer-term sustainability goals and confirm that current planning and development proposals pose a threat to ecosystems and their ability to deliver services that support human well-being in Durban. We suggest practical solutions to include ecosystem services into local government decision-making.
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the most urbanized and biologically diverse regions in the world but is often characterized by weak environmental governance and socioeconomic inequalities. Given large expanses of intact biomes, a long history of pre-Colombian civilizations, and recent urbanization trends, the urban ecosystem services (UES) concept has the potential to address issues of well-being for its citizens. We review relevant regional and global literature and use expert-based knowledge to identify the state of the art of the UES concept as applicable to green spaces in LAC and elucidate three overarching guidelines for management and future research needs: 1. LAC cities can be socio-ecologically unique; 2. Drivers of UES in LAC can be different than in other regions; and 3. Context and demand need to be accounted for when valuing UES. Overall, we show that research on UES is mostly from the global north and rarely accounts for the diverse and complex socio-political and ecological drivers of LAC’s urbanization processes. We find that, as in other regions, the biophysical context and land use policies play a major role on UES provision. However, socioeconomic inequalities and weak governance are key drivers in UES supply and demand in LAC. Context-specific information on how to promote, educate, and apply UES is particularly important, not only in LAC, but in other regions where inequities, rapid urbanization, and climate change effects are stressing socio-political and ecological systems and their adaptive capacities. Standardized approaches from developed countries should be used to complement - not substitute – LAC context specific approaches for studying and applying UES. We suggest that improved research funding and local governance can also provide critical strategies, information and the means for more effective management, planning, and equitable provision of UES.
This review examines disparities in access to urban green space (UGS) based on socioeconomic status (SES) and race-ethnicity in Global South cities. It was motivated by documented human health and ecosystem services benefits of UGS in Global South countries and UGS planning barriers in rapidly urbanizing cities. Additionally, another review of Global North UGS studies uncovered that high-SES and White people have access to a higher quantity of higher quality UGSs than low-SES and racial-ethnic minority people but that no clear differences exist regarding who lives closer to UGS. Thus, we conducted a systematic review to uncover (1) whether UGS inequities in Global North cities are evident in Global South cities and (2) whether inequities in the Global South vary between continents. Through the PRISMA approach and five inclusion criteria, we identified 46 peer-reviewed articles that measured SES or racial-ethnic disparities in access to UGS in Global South cities. We found inequities for UGS quantity (high-SES people are advantaged in 85% of cases) and UGS proximity (74% of cases). Inequities were less consistent for UGS quality (65% of cases). We also found that UGS inequities were consistent across African, Asian, and Latin American cities. These findings suggest that Global South cities experience similar inequities in UGS quantity and quality as Global North cities, but that the former also face inequities in UGS proximity.
Africa is urbanizing at an astonishing rate. To meet many of the Sustainable Development Goals there will be a requirement for cities in sub-Saharan Africa to plan for, and manage, the rapid rise in the urban population. Green infrastructure has the potential to provide multiple ecosystem services to benefit the urban population. The general objective of this review is to consolidate research undertaken on urban green infrastructure and the associated ecosystem services in sub-Saharan African cities. The 68 reviewed papers spanned 20 countries and included 74 urban areas. However, only 38% of sub-Saharan countries had any research carried out in them. The most represented ecosystem services were regulating and provisioning, with supporting services getting the least attention. Overall there was a lack of in-depth studies on all ecosystem services, especially supporting and cultural services. Seven overarching categories of barriers and challenges to the sustainable delivery of ecosystem services emerged from the reviewed papers, namely: (i) socio-cultural values, traditions and perceptions; (ii) lack of capacity; (iii) governance, urban planning and social inequality; (iv) lack of data and/or case studies; (v) ecosystem disservices; (vi) spatial trade-offs and conflicts; (vii) climate change. These barriers we identified will need to be addressed if the future, long-term sustainable provision of ecosystem services in sub-Saharan African cities is to be assured.
Ecosystem-based measures have a high potential to replace or build on engineered solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), not only in rural but also in urban areas. Based on the case study of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this working paper reveals the potential for implementing such ecosystem-based measures to protect informal settlements. These so-called favelas are often located on steep slopes and therefore prone to landslides that are triggered by heavy rainfall events. Deforestation and land degradation, inadequate infrastructure and ongoing informal building activities are additionally exacerbating risks. Different-formal and informal-actors are already involved in urban disaster risk reduction; however, structural measures are mostly limited to engineered approaches and not yet aligned with the urban reforestation program. The two major constraints hindering a more efficient landslide risk management and the inclusion of ecosystem-based approaches that were detected in the study are a lack of coordination among the involved authorities as well as a lack of awareness of the potentials that ecosystem-based approaches offer. Investigations in the favelas Morro da Formiga and Morro dos Prazeres that are in the central and northern zone of Rio de Janeiro and severely affected by land and mudslides in the past, revealed a high potential for ecosystem-based measures for DRR and CCA that has hardly been tapped yet. Based on literature surveys, expert interviews and site visits, a portfolio of suitable ecosystem-based measures for urban DRR and CCA for selected marginal settlements in urban risk areas of Rio de Janeiro is compiled, with lessons for the city and beyond. The potentials detected range from household to urban level, and propose pure ecosystem-based measures, but also hybrid ones and social as well as administrative tools. About the Author(s) Lead researcher Wolfram Lange is currently working as a freelance consultant for projects of international cooperation for sustainable development, NGO and governmental institutions in Brazil. His expertise is in urban and social geography as well as regional planning and natural resources management focusing on land use management in rural and urban areas and socio-spatial analysis, climate change, and disaster risk reduction. Sandholz focuses on sustainable urban and regional development, particularly on urban regeneration, nature-based solutions for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, good governance and livelihood approaches, based on empirical social research methods.
In the contemporary world, modernist Western thought supports stereotypical perceptions of cities (innovative, dynamic, progressive) as fundamentally different from the countryside (traditional, static, conservative). This leads to the effect of making near-residential agriculture obsolete; made redundant by transport technologies and an agricultural industry that rapidly moves large quantities of foodstuff from one region to another. However, the reality of urban food production in most countries of the Global South tells another story. This chapter uses recent and Pre-Columbian Maya case studies from four different regions of the world (Africa, South-East Asia, Middle America, and the Caribbean) to illustrate the importance of urban and peri-urban agriculture and food and nutrition security as fundamental aspects of the social-ecological resilience of cities. The chapter elaborates the differences of urban and peri-urban agriculture in the Global South and the Global North, including institutional support and regulations, gender roles, the importance for food and nutrition security (case studies on Cuba and Thailand), livelihoods, ecosystem services, urban ecology (case studies on Burkina Faso and Ghana), and the role of urban food commons (case study on Cuba). This demonstrates that food production is not “the antithesis of the city”, but an urban activity that contributes to the resilience of cities.
The context of the Global South’s urban ecosystems is often poorly understood or accounted for when applying the Urban Regulating Ecosystem Services (URES) concept, primarily because most available information is from the Global North. Thus, there is a need to better understand the unique socio-economic, political and environmental context of urban areas in the Global South when addressing issues related to urban ecosystem services, environmental quality, climate change and environmental justice. This chapter provides a more nuanced perspective on how URES can address urban environmental and climate change problems, thereby improving the human condition and policy formulation. It first defines URES using selected literature and discusses differences in the environmental and socio-economic characteristics and trajectories of cities in the Global South relative to the Global North. Several global examples overview the effectiveness and relevance of URES in the context of mitigation and adaptation to environmental pollution, extreme climatic events and sustainable development. Future research needs and environmental policy implications are also discussed. It concludes by emphasising the need for more interconnected and equal cooperation and knowledge exchange between Global North and South countries, when applying and studying URES concepts and practices.
All of humankind, urban and rural, rich and poor and whether living in the Global South or the Global North rely to some degree on provisioning ecosystem services such as food, water, timber, fibre and medicinal products. However, in contrast to the Global North the contextual forces shaping many urban livelihoods in the Global South necessitate that many people access the needed provisioning services themselves by directly harvesting or collecting from the immediate, local urban and peri-urban environments, or purchasing them from those who do. Thus, the need for and local availability of provisioning services has profound implications for not only the quality of urban livelihoods, but also the urban ecology in relation to extent and use of urban green infrastructure from where the provisioning services are sourced and the species within them. This chapter summarises compelling evidence from throughout the Global South regarding the extent of use of locally sourced provisioning services by urban communities. It shows that Global South contexts prompt the use of a diverse array of resource types and hundreds of different species in specific settings, much greater than found in Global North cities. The chapter explores the types, extent and nature of locally sourced provisioning services and contributions that they make to urban livelihoods via (1) direct household provisioning, (2) cash savings, (3) safety nets during adverse times, (4) income generation and (5) culture and traditions. It then explores the local-scale factors that influence the nature and extent of use, including proximity to harvest or collection site, access, local ecological knowledge, migrant status, culture and affluence. Thereafter, the social and ecological effects of local harvesting are considered, which potentially effect the sustainability of sought-after species and populations. The chapter ends with pointers on how the quality and quantity of locally produced provisioning services can be secured and enhanced and thereby better support urban livelihoods, especially of the urban poor, in the Global South.
Urban green infrastructure (UGI) provides numerous environmental, social and economic benefits through direct and indirect use of ecosystem services. The maintenance of UGI also provides work opportunities for skilled and unskilled workers in the public and private sectors, so-called green collar jobs. However, the extent and benefit of such employment has rarely been examined, especially in a developing country context where unemployment is often high. We quantified the number of green collar jobs and wage levels across all green collar categories in 12 towns of the Eastern Cape via means of questionnaires and interviews. Overall, we enumerated 17 429 jobs, receiving approximately ZAR503 million (US$37 million) per year. The number of jobs was strongly linked to town size, but the number of jobs per unit area was inversely related to the level of underdevelopment or deprivation per town. Two-thirds of the jobs were in the informal sector in the form of low-skilled workers acting as gardeners to middle- and upper-income households. The remainder were split more or less equally between the formal private and public sectors. The nature of private and public sector jobs varied in relation to the broader macro-economy of each town. Thus, the provision and maintenance of UGI in towns and cities of the developing world can be seen as not only an investment in environmental sustainability and liveability, but also an investment in economic welfare and poverty alleviation, especially in situations where unemployment is high.
Urban greenery provide a variety of goods and services to city dwellers. A core one is amelioration of the urban heat island effect. However, the many estimates from temperate regions cannot be extrapolated to the tropics, where more empirical studies are required to guide urban planning and optimization of green infrastructure design and distribution. This study reports on the temperature differentials in fortnightly readings, in winter and summer, between 12 urban green spaces and the surrounding built-up urban matrix at increasing distances from each green space. Additionally, the value of energy costs saved for air conditioning by urban greenery was calculated. The mean difference in temperature between green spaces and neighbouring built-up areas was 3.6°C, and in summer ranged from 0.9°C to 6.1°C and in winter 0.9°C to 5.7° C. The cooling effects extended up to 1.7 km beyond the centre of green spaces. The magnitude of cooling increased slightly with increasing green space size. These cooling effects translated into a cost on energy saving of approximately US$532/household/yr. Given the weak economy and incomes in Zimbabwe, this saving is considerable and can contribute to the multiple motivations for more green spaces in the city.
Cities worldwide are increasingly using green infrastructure to mitigate challenges related to stormwater, in an approach regarded as sustainable stormwater management (SSM). Various governance factors have been identified as one of the major barriers to SSM implementation. In this study, we examined specific governance factors influencing local SSM implementation in four case cities in Sweden and China. Based on systems thinking, we first developed a general causal loop diagram (SSM-CLD) illustrating the interrelations between previously identified influencing governance factors in SSM. We then used this general SSM-CLD as a framework to conduct and analyze 23 semi-structured interviews with local government officers in the four case cities. Based on the analysis, we summarized the most frequently mentioned governance factors and created one SSM-CLD for each case city. We then examined the main differences between the local SSM-CLDs and the general SSM-CLD, and the differences between the Chinese and Swedish case cities. The results revealed that, in the two Chinese case cities, the role of national policy in setting local leaders' priorities, the strong organizational set-up, and planning instruments are significant for SSM implementation. In the two Swedish case cities, public awareness, local government politicians' priorities, and trust in SSM performance are important for SSM implementation. Acquiring funding for long-term maintenance of SSM was identified as a common challenge in all four cities studied. These results provide a better understanding and potential lessons for other cities on how governance factors influence SSM.
Urban heat island (UHI) effect has serious negative impacts on urban ecosystems and human well-being. Mitigation of UHI using nature-based solutions is highly desirable. It was well known that urban green infrastructure (UGI), i.e., urban vegetation, can effectively mitigate UHI effect. However, the potential of urban blue infrastructure (UBI), i.e., urban surface water, on UHI mitigation is not well understood, although its potential to lower UHI effect via evaporation is similar to the biophysical mechanism of evapotranspiration through vegetation. In this paper, we study the relationship between UBI and land surface temperature (LST) in Wuhan city in central China, using a normalized difference water index (NDWI), maximum local cool island intensity and the maximum cooling distance as indicators for the cooling effects of UBI, respectively. We found a significant negative linear relationship between mean LST and NDWI after NDWI passes a critical threshold value. NDWI is an effective biophysical parameter to delineate the spatial distribution of UBI. The cooling effects of UBI are influenced both by its size and shape. Water surface temperature decreased logarithmically with increasing UBI size, critical threshold values of UBI size corresponding to maximum cooling efficiency do exists. Maximum cooling distance and maximum local cool island intensity are also affected by the shape and size of UBI, and exhibit seasonal and spatial variations. These results provide insights for urban landscape planning regarding how to use UBI as a nature-based solution to improve urban thermal environment.
Large-scale urban afforestation projects are increasingly used as a way to enhance urban sustainability. Governance of such projects is challenging yet few studies have examined this topic. Between 2012 and 2015, Beijing City implemented the One Million-Mu (666 km2) Plain Afforestation Project, which has led to over 50 million trees being planted in the city’s plain area and a 10% increase of overall forest cover. We analyzed the governance of this mega planting project through the lens of the Policy Arrangement Approach, with specific attention paid to actors, resources, rules, discourses and their interconnectedness. We found that a strong administrative capacity was in place for the project, and the efficiency and effectiveness of the project were generally good. However, civic participation was insufficient. The extensive use of farmland for afforestation has caused a conflict between the project and farmland conservation. Despite strong leadership of the project, there were still discrepancies between plans and outcomes due to inadequate rule-making during the very short period of planning. Authoritative discourses were dominant through the project, but a few decisions were improperly oriented. Findings from this study can provide important lessons for other cities to plan and implement large urban afforestation projects.
The physical and geometrical properties of urban regions are responsible for influencing canopy layer air temperature leading to urban heat island effect (UHI). Local climate zone (LCZ) land cover classification scheme has been widely adopted to examine UHI and inter urban heat island (IUHI). In tropical cities with heterogeneous mix of urban surface cover, morphology, thermal and radiative properties pose the question–which built properties have a higher influence on UHI? This study evaluates UHI response in tropical city Nagpur (India) using LCZ and city specific built parameters. It uses mobile survey to collect nocturnal air-temperature data during two consecutive summers (2016 and 2017). The study identifies eleven built environment parameters from literature survey. It adopts a unique approach of all possible regression technique with series of checks and model validation (coefficient signage, variance inflation factor, p-value & t-statistics, R square, F value and k-fold cross validation). The result shows distance from central business district (DI), surface albedo (AL), aspect ratio (AR) and vegetation density ratio (VDR) as major predictors explaining UHI response. Every 500 m increase in DI reduces inter urban heat island (IUHI) by 0.13 °C. Increasing AL by 0.01 decreases UHI by 0.18 °C whereas increasing VDR by 0.10 yields 0.17 °C reduction in IUHI. 10% increase in AR suggests IUHI increase by 0.17 °C. This study contributes in exploring mitigation strategies for complex built environment. It enables urban planners, designers and policy makers to approach urban intervention with scientific and sustainable approach.
US cities are investing heavily in green infrastructure (GI) to manage stormwater and improve local water quality. However, many other ecosystem services (ES) are attributed to these same GI systems. Some of these services, such as the amount of rainfall that can be attenuated in a green roof, are well documented; others, such as the role of coastal wetlands in protecting properties from storm surge, are difficult to quantify or so dependent on local conditions that results are not generalizable. This paper presents a snapshot valuation of the urban ES provided by GI in New York City. Structured surveys were administered to four stakeholder groups, representing a gradient of familiarity with GI. Survey results were compared against the scientific literature to explore how stakeholder perceptions compared to the biophysical capacity of GI to provide ES. Results indicate that, while stormwater management is the primary driver of GI investment in NYC, residents view other ES more favorably. Municipal programs that create multifunctional GI systems may be more widely supported than those focused exclusively on stormwater management. The results also suggest latent public support for GI initiatives that include new and enhanced Parks & Natural Areas and Community Gardens.
Urban trees are vital components of urban ecosystems, and thus important for environmental quality, urban sustainability, and quality of life in cities. Regrettably, urban trees are sometimes unequally distributed both between and within towns, a pattern largely associated with differences in the social environment of cities and historical patterns of development, and the dearth in strategic management plans and systematic monitoring of the existing urban forest. Most management plans focus on ecological and arboricultural aspects at the expense of the social, and studies examining perceptions in relation urban forests are largely from developed countries. Accordingly, we conducted a study to examine the perceptions and preferences regarding urban trees of 1200 residents from 10 urban areas across multiple socioeconomic contexts in South Africa. We found that most (87%) urban residents have positive perceptions of trees. This was supported by emphasis placed on the importance of urban trees for quality of life in towns by > 70% of respondents. However, > 70% of respondents were dissatisfied with both the appearance of their streets and the insufficient number of street trees. They emphasized their preference for having trees both on the street and in their private yards, highlighting an array of benefits provided by urban trees. Incorporating residents' perceptions and preferences of urban greening into plans and strategies towards urban forest establishment and management is a crucial strategy towards the reduction of disparities in urban forest distribution. Furthermore, it contributes to the establishment of an urban forest that accommodates user-needs based on user preferences, while also serving the needs of the broader natural environment.
The modern greenway movement in China originated in 2010 when Guangdong Provincial Government launched the Pearl River Delta greenway network. The PRD greenway planning has strategic objectives that respond to issues associated with urbanization in the region. This article presents a conceptual framework that explains the potential impact of several key factors in the planning context on the strategic uses of greenways. The framework is then applied to empirical research carried out in the PRD. The results show that greenway planning is a feasible strategy to promote rural economic development by attracting tourists and promoting the development of service sectors. In general, the PRD greenways function as a social strategy: they create new recreational spaces and provide public goods and facilities in both urban and rural areas. However, the results also show that many greenways lack landscape and ecological strategies and become primarily a transportation strategy that defines space for walking and cycling routes in urban areas. The emerging transportation-led greenways reflect the inconsistency of planning goals and outcomes, which is a compromise to both the centralized administrative system and the inadequacy of greenway resources. This article concludes that although strong leadership is necessary in greenway development, insufficient social participation can undermine the achievement of the goals and priorities of the greenway plan, particularly the ecological goals and functions. How to engage local agencies, interested groups, and affected stakeholders in the planning and decision-making process has become a big challenge for greenway planning in the PRD greenways.
Green infrastructure (GI) offers a new perspective on the benefits of urban and peri-urban green spaces. In Latin America, the urbanization process has involved a loss of these green spaces of high environmental value. These changes have had a series of consequences on the climate of Latin American cities that have been intensified by climate change. Although the contribution of GI to urban climate regulation and to climate change mitigation and adaptation is growing in recognition, the debate has still had little influence on urban planning initiatives, with exceptions in North America and Europe. In Latin America and Africa little is known about how climate change adaptation plans incorporate the development of urban GI. This chapter explores institutional actions to develop GI as an alternative to tackle climate change in Latin American cities. A bibliographic review was conducted using the terms “green infrastructure” or “climate change.” The analysis focused on identifying: responsible institutions, objectives, and the understanding and use of the GI concept. Results indicate that GI has been recently and slowly incorporated into urban planning. This scenario suggests a growing awareness of the need to plan sustainable, green, and more prepared cities to face climate change. However, planners have not considered enough the potential contribution of GI; thus, the role of GI has not been properly identified and valued in urban planning, and planning and design efforts do not maximize the benefits of GI.
Green infrastructure (GI) is a vital asset for sustainable cities, but an interdisciplinary approach must be taken if multifunctional and socially acceptable GI is to be developed. Here, we present the results of a workshop process to connect researchers and practitioners across academia, industry, and government and to enable a multidisciplinary group of participants to coalesce on a set of cross-cutting issues and prioritise a research agenda to address and advance GI research and uptake in Australia. We found that many of the challenges were ubiquitous across regions and scales, but research in a few key priority areas could advance GI across multiple cities. The key research areas were: Attitudes & Perceptions of GI; Increasing Biodiversity through GI; Optimising Spatial Configuration and Composition for Multiple Benefits; Economic Valuation of GI; Metrics, Models and Tools for Benchmarking Assessments; and Turning Research into Policy and Implementation. Although participants saw that there were many synergies across the research topics, there were challenges of translating the science for decision making and of establishing long-term institutional collaborations. However, urgency for sound evidence to support policy development and planning will require an interdisciplinary process to be maintained so that clear communication can be established across sectors.
In this study, a Mamdani fuzzy inference approach (MFIA) is developed for assessing ecological security of urban agglomeration. MFIA integrates pressure-state-response (PSR) model into a fuzzy logic framework, which can (1) effectively reflect the interrelationship between natural ecosystem and socio-economic systems under complex condition, and (2) capture the knowledge-based experts’ judgments and tackle the imprecise and/or vague information in the urban agglomeration ecosystem. MFIA is then applied to assessing ecological security of the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration. Among all cities, Zhaoqing owns the highest ecological security level due to its low population pressure and rich resources (e.g., forest and arable land). The ecological security level of Foshan is the lowest due to its high population pressure, limited resources, and low response level. In order to facilitate sustainable development of the urban agglomeration, various strategies for improving ecological security level should be implemented. Foshan should both control population growth and adjust industrial structure; Shenzhen and Dongguan should promote their ecological security levels through increasing forest and green areas and controlling population; for three cities of Zhaoqing, Huizhou and Jiangmen, it is essential to enhance their infrastructures for mitigating pollutant discharges and reducing the environmental pressures. The findings could help identify ecological condition of the urban agglomeration and provide useful information for supporting regional ecological planning and management.
