Urban green infrastructure: A review on valuation toolkits from an urban planning perspective

Construction and optimization of Green Infrastructure Network in mountainous cities: a case study of Fuzhou, China

Green infrastructure networks enhance the protection and improvement of urban ecological environments, augment the efficiency and quality of ecosystem services, and furnish residents with healthier and more comfortable living conditions. Although previous research has investigated the construction or optimization methods of green infrastructure networks, these studies have been relatively isolated and lacking in case studies for mountainous cities. In the development of green infrastructure, mountainous cities must specifically consider the impact of terrain on network construction. Taking Fuzhou, a mountainous city in China, as an example, this study constructs and optimizes the green infrastructure network by employing morphological spatial pattern analysis, connectivity analysis, the Minimum Cumulative Resistance model, and circuit theory. These methodologies increase the connectivity of the Green Infrastructure within the study area, thereby promoting the health of the local ecosystem and creating conducive circumstances for the city's sustainable development. The findings reveal that: (1) Green infrastructure in Fuzhou takes up 5366.38 ha, constituting 21.76% of the study area, primarily situated in the northwest and south; (2) Fuzhou's Green Infrastructure network comprises 10 hubs and 17 corridors with a hub area of 1306.98 ha, predominantly distributed in the mountains encircling the city, including Meifeng Mountain, Gaogai Mountain, and Qingliang Mountain; (3) Based on optimization, the circuit centrality index categorizes hub importance into three protection levels, pinpointing nine crucial protected areas in the corridors and 680 areas requiring enhancement, including 68 areas for first-level improvement, 149 areas for second-level improvement, and 463 areas for third-level improvement. This research offers a methodological reference for constructing and optimizing green infrastructure networks in mountainous cities, providing both theoretical and practical foundations for optimizing green infrastructure networks in Fuzhou City.

Valuing the health benefits of nature-based recreational physical activity in England

Physical activity (PA) reduces the risk of several non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Natural environments support recreational PA. Using data including a representative cross-sectional survey of the English population, we estimated the annual value of nature-based PA conducted in England in 2019 in terms of avoided healthcare and societal costs of disease. Population-representative data from the Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment (MENE) survey (n = 47,580; representing 44,386,756) were used to estimate the weekly volume of nature-based recreational PA by adults in England in 2019. We used epidemiological dose-response data to calculate incident cases of six NCDs (ischaemic heart disease (IHD), ischaemic stroke (IS), type 2 diabetes (T2D), colon cancer (CC), breast cancer (BC) and major depressive disorder (MDD)) prevented through nature-based PA, and estimated associated savings using published costs of healthcare, informal care and productivity losses. We investigated additional savings resulting from hypothetical increases in: (a) visitor PA and (b) visitor numbers. In 2019, 22million adults > 16 years of age in England visited natural environments at least weekly. At reported volumes of nature-based PA, we estimated that 550 cases of IHD, 168 cases of IS, 1,410 cases of T2D, 41 cases of CC, 37 cases of BC and 10,552 cases of MDD were prevented, creating annual savings of £108.7million (95 % uncertainty interval: £70.3million; £150.3million). Nature-based recreational PA in England results in reduced burden of disease and considerable annual savings through prevention of priority NCDs. Strategies that increase nature-based PA could lead to further reductions in the societal burden of NCDs.

A lack of focus on data sharing, stakeholders, and economic benefits in current global green infrastructure planning

Green infrastructure (GI) is increasingly popular in solving urban environmental challenges and enhancing ecosystem services. Yet the research status and challenges of GI planning have not been comprehensively benchmarked to date. We explored the GI types, actions, goals, and spatiotemporal characteristics of GI planning cases worldwide based on the available literature. The challenges of GI planning were also investigated by the cases included in this manuscript. Additionally, the urban governance solutions to address these challenges were proposed. We found that multi-type GI planning is the most popular. Data sharing, stakeholder participation, economic benefits and research funding for GI planning research were generally inadequate, although they have improved trend over time. Multiple-goal GI planning frequently has higher levels of data sharing, stakeholder participation and economic benefits than GI planning that just takes into account one purpose. We conclude that the future transformation of GI planning requires efficient data sharing mechanisms, effective co-design among stakeholders, systematic business models, and available research funding.

Assessment of street-level greenness and its association with housing prices in a metropolitan area

Rapid global urbanization has made environmental amenities scarce despite their considerable advantages, ranging from aesthetics to health benefits. Street greenness is a key urban environmental amenity. This study developed a green index as an objective measure of greenness using street view images and assessed its predictive power along with that of other environmental amenities for metropolitan housing prices. Spatial interpolation was used to transform point data into areal data, enabling effective analysis of a dataset covering an entire metropolis. A series of hedonic models revealed that (1) street greenness is significantly and negatively associated with housing prices, (2) a traditional greenness indicator and the green index provide complementary information, indicating that they could be used for different purposes, and (3) environmental amenities, in general, demonstrated significant relationships with housing prices. Our analysis strategy including spatial interpolation can be widely employed for studies using different types of data. The findings demonstrating a complementary relationship between our two greenness indicators provide valuable insights for policymakers and urban planners to improve street-level greenness and green accessibility. Considering the significance of environmental amenities, this study provides practical approaches for executing sustainable and healthy city development.

The relationship between entrepreneurial energy efficiency orientation and carbon footprint reduction: The mediating role of green networking and identification of barriers to green practices

Motivated by the growing attention to climate change and the crucial role businesses could play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, this study investigates entrepreneurial energy efficiency orientation in the context of carbon footprint reduction initiatives of small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We enhance understanding of the climate change action of SMEs by taking into account the mediating mechanisms (i.e., identification of green barriers and green networking) through which firm entrepreneurial energy efficiency orientation leads to superior carbon footprint reduction initiatives by overcoming barriers to green practices. A survey of 252 SME owners and top managers in the Tees Valley region, Northeast England, supported the direct impact of entrepreneurial energy efficiency orientation on overcoming barriers to green practices and the mediating role of identification of green barriers and green networking in this focal relationship. These findings reveal the importance of entrepreneurial energy efficiency orientation, identification of green barriers and green networking in helping SMEs overcome barriers to green practices and improving carbon footprint reduction initiatives.

Green infrastructure inequality in the context of COVID-19: Taking parks and trails as examples

Inequality in access to urban green infrastructures has been a major concern among scholars and governments, especially since the COVID-19 outbreak. There is a lack of knowledge on how people respond to the pandemic regarding the usage of green infrastructure in cities. This paper explores the shifts in visitation to parks and trails, two popular green infrastructures in Salt Lake County, Utah, by analyzing the results of a survey conducted during the pandemic. Our conceptualization considers personal and neighborhood-level factors, including personal socioeconomic status, existing inequalities of green infrastructures, urban form, and neighborhood conditions. People who reside close to the city center tend to go to parks more often, while those living in urban edges use trails more. Visiting green infrastructures less often is more likely in areas with higher COVID-19 infection rates. The regression results confirm the importance of neighborhood-level factors and illustrate the intricate elements influencing people's decisions to visit different green infrastructures during the pandemic, which shows non-linear relationships. Richer, white, and younger people seem to enjoy green infrastructures more often, leading to the concern of amplified inequality. Higher COVID-19 cases result in higher demands for green infrastructures, which are not fulfilled during the pandemic, especially for vulnerable communities, leading to spatial exclusion. The results highlight the importance of smart growth, including compact development, public transit, and pocket parks, in promoting the urban resilience of park and trail visits, as they may provide more access opportunities and alternatives to green infrastructures even in the context of the pandemic.

Civil society involvement in the governance of green infrastructure: An analysis of policy recommendations from EU-funded projects

Green Infrastructures (GI) help build and develop climate resiliency and biodiversity. Moreover, the ecosystem services (ESS) that GI generates can be a source of social and economic value. Public policies to support GIs are necessary, but they cannot be successful without the involvement of relevant stakeholders. Because GI is a rather obscure concept for most non-specialists, their contribution to sustainability is not always apparent, and this makes it difficult to mobilize resources. This paper analyzes the policy recommendations of 36 projects focused on GI governance, funded by the European Union (EU) in the last decade or so. Using the Quadruple Helix (QH) approach, we find that GIs are perceived as a mostly governmental responsibility, with civil society and business engaged to a limited extent. We argue that non-governmental players should be more actively involved in decisions concerning GI to foster more sustainable development.

Green Infrastructure Designed through Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Urban Development

With the goal of enhancing the quality of the environment, urban green infrastructure (UGI) is an essential element in sustainable cities, and nature-based solutions (NBS) are being carried out as new infrastructure solutions that increase the resilience of cities. In this research, the method of theoretical analysis and the content analysis as the basic fact-gathering technique was applied to answer to following questions: What are the hindrances and bottlenecks in implementing NBS? Are the current decision-making mechanisms helping NBS get in route to shape cities? Is there any binding policy in practice that promotes NBS? In Belgrade is planned Type 3 of the degree of intervention/level and engineering type-Creation and new ecosystem management in the classifications of intensive urban green space management; urban planning strategies; urban water management; ecological restoration of degraded terrestrial ecosystems; and restoration and creation of semi-natural water bodies and hydrographic networks. In the future, it is essential to implement policies and incentives on national, regional, and local scales that help encourage the usage of NBS in the development of urban infrastructure.

Impacts of Urban Blue-Green Space on Residents' Health: A Bibliometric Review

Urban blue-green space (UBGS), as an important component of the urban environment, is found to closely relate to human health. An extensive understanding of the effects of UBGS on human health is necessary for urban planning and intervention schemes towards healthy city development. However, a comprehensive review and discussion of relevant studies using bibliometric methods is still lacking. This paper adopted the bibliometric method and knowledge graph visualization technology to analyze the research on the impact of UBGS on residents' health, including the number of published papers, international influence, and network characteristics of keyword hotspots. The key findings include: (1) The number of articles published between 2001 and 2021 shows an increasing trend. Among the articles collected from WoS and CNKI, 38.74% and 32.65% of the articles focus on physical health, 38.32% and 30.61% on mental health, and 17.06% and 30.61% on public health, respectively. (2) From the analysis of international partnerships, countries with high levels of economic development and urbanization have closer cooperation than other countries. (3) UBGS has proven positive effects on residents' physical, mental, and public health. However, the mediating effects of UBGS on health and the differences in the health effects of UBGS on different ages and social classes are less studied. Therefore, this study proposes several future research directions. First, the mediating effect of UBGS on health impacts should be further examined. Furthermore, the interactive effects of residents' behaviors and the UBGS environment should be emphasized. Moreover, multidisciplinary integration should be strengthened. The coupling mechanism between human behavior and the environment should also be studied in depth with the help of social perception big data, wearable devices, and human-computer interactive simulation. Finally, this study calls for developing health risk monitoring and early warning systems, and integrating health impact assessment into urban planning, so as to improve residents' health and urban sustainability.

Resident Satisfaction of Urban Green Spaces through the Lens of Landsenses Ecology

Residents' satisfaction of urban green space has been widely detected in living environments around the world. Most previous reports were performed with objective indicators to reflect the characteristics of vegetation and landscapes of residential green space. However, subjective senses as impact factors in the evaluation of residents' satisfaction based on landsenses ecology are scarce. To address this, in this study, physical perception, aesthetic cognition, and psychological cognition as latent variables in a structural equation model were investigated to determine the residents' satisfaction in Xiamen, in southeast China, a famously high green space coverage region. The results indicate that physical perception is the fundamental condition to improve residents' satisfaction, while aesthetic cognition and psychological cognition are the direct factors that influenced residents' satisfaction. Residents exhibit a preference for the residential green space which contains more biodiversity and landscape diversity, a higher biomass, and greater openness. In addition, the residents' perception significantly related to greenspace characteristics. The results provide a scientific basis for urban green space planning and optimization of ecological resources' allocation.

Assessing the recreational value of small-scale nature-based solutions when planning urban flood adaptation

Nature-based solutions may actively reduce hydro-meteorological risks in urban areas as a part of climate change adaptation. However, the main reason for the increasing uptake of this type of solution is their many benefits for the local inhabitants, including recreational value. Previous studies on recreational value focus on studies of existing nature sites that are often much larger than what is considered as new NBS for flood adaptation studies in urban areas. We thus prioritized studies with smaller areas and nature types suitable for urban flood adaptation and divided them into four common nature types for urban flood adaptation: sustainable urban drainage systems, city parks, nature areas and rivers. We identified 23 primary valuation studies, including both stated and revealed preference studies, and derived two value transfer functions based on meta-regression analysis on existing areas. We investigated trends between values and variables and found that for the purpose of planning of new NBS the size of NBS and population density were determining factors of recreational value. For existing NBS the maximum travelling distance may be included as well. We find that existing state-of-the-art studies overestimate the recreational with more than a factor of 4 for NBS sizes below 5 ha. Our results are valid in a European context for nature-based solutions below 250 ha and can be applied across different NBS types and sizes.

Towards a web tool for assessing the impact of climate change adaptation measures on heat stress at urban site level

In view of the increased frequency of heat events and their negative effects, principally in cities, many scholars and practitioners are focusing on ways of adapting to climate change. The urban population and, especially, vulnerable groups, are now being affected to such a degree that adaptation measures are deemed necessary. Clearly, the planning and implementation of such measures are dependent on municipal resources. Tools can greatly assist in the planning of such measures at urban site level. This article provides a systematic review of the tools currently available for planning and implementing climate change adaptation measures in cities. The results offer a comprehensive overview of existing planning tools, which can also serve as a handy look-up document for urban planners searching for such tools. We find that many of these tools require considerable improvement and optimisation. For example, our findings demonstrate that outputs may be overly generalised, often there is no way of entering site-specific information while additional co-benefits (e.g. ecosystem services) are ignored. By analysing selected tools, we pinpoint and discuss requirements for future planning tools. In particular, we present a concept for a tool currently under development which is designed to assist in the planning and implementation of heat adaptation measures at diverse (small) spatial scales. The advantages of this tool are that it can assess the indoor thermal situation in addition to outdoor conditions, thereby providing comprehensive information on the suitability of adaptation measures. Furthermore, decision-making processes could benefit from some estimation of the likely co-benefits (here, ecosystem services) if proposed adaptation measures were implemented.

Spatio-temporal evolution characteristics analysis and optimization prediction of urban green infrastructure: a case study of Beijing, China

The reasonable layout of green infrastructure is conducive to the low-carbon, livable and high-quality sustainable development of cities. The framework of spatio-temporal evolution characteristics and prediction analysis of Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) was constructed by integrating morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and CA-Markov in the study. We analyzed the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of UGI in Beijing from 1990 to 2019, predicted its future change trend in 2030, and put forward the optimization scheme for the ecological network of UGI. The area change of UGI presented a "V" shape from 1990 to 2019 in Beijing, and the turning point was around 2009. Its spatial distribution revealed a significant heterogeneity. The comprehensive change rate index showed a "rising and then falling" trend from 1990 to 2019. Core with an area of over 1000 km2 had inclined "C" shape, connecting the north, west and south of the study area. Among the three prediction scenarios for 2030, the area of UGI under the ecological conservation priority scenario is the largest, accounting for 86.35% of the total area. The area of UGI under the economic development priority scenario is the smallest, accounting for 76.85%. The optimization of zoning and road network are effective measures to improve the connectivity of UGI in Beijing. This study is beneficial to extend the research ideas of UGI and promote sustainable urban development.

Principles of Designing Water Elements in Urban Public Spaces

When designing public spaces in large cities, a number of functional, communication, compositional, infrastructural, environmental and compositional factors should be taken into account, most of which relate to water elements. The appropriate location and form of water elements significantly affect the attractiveness and strengthening of the identity of places in cities. Fountains, artificial and natural urbanized watercourses, artistic installations and sculptures, as well as nature-based solutions that utilize water designed in public spaces significantly increase the social and aesthetic value of public spaces. The main aim of the presented research is to present a spectrum of solutions for water elements in public spaces of cities. The summary part describes guidelines and recommendations regarding the principles of designing the locations of fountains, watercourses and artistic objects that utilize water in public spaces in cities.

Priming Engineers to Think About Sustainability: Cognitive and Neuro-Cognitive Evidence to Support the Adoption of Green Stormwater Design

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.

Economic Valuation of Urban Green Spaces across a Socioeconomic Gradient: A South African Case Study

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.

Fostering the Resiliency of Urban Landscape through the Sustainable Spatial Planning of Green Spaces

Background: It has been recognized that urban green spaces play a crucial role in providing many landscape services. The research aimed at identifying the main knowledge gaps in this framework and to support urban planning, taking into account the spatial configuration of green areas through a pilot study area, and mapping urban landscape services. Methods: In this research, (1) a systematic review, analyzed through a network analysis; (2) an urban pilot study to map the Urban Green Index and, jointly, the spatial composition and configuration of urban green areas, through the integration of three landscape metrics; and (3) the mapping of Urban Landscape Services Index have been carried out. Results: The 37% of the reviewed articles focused on regulating services, while the network analysis identified four clusters. The total Urban Green Index was 26%, and some districts showed a percentage that surpassed it. The total overall Green Connectivity Index was 21%. Some districts were the best providers of landscape services. Conclusions: This research was in line with the EU Joint Science for Policy Report suggesting giving emphasis to the spatial pattern map of green spaces in European cities to provide spatial data available for decision-makers in relation to GI deployment.

Green Infrastructure and Health

The health benefits of green space are well known, but the health effects of green infrastructure less so. Green infrastructure goes well beyond the presence of green space and refers more to a strategically planned network of natural and seminatural areas, with other environmental features designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services and possibly to improve human health. In this narrative review, we found that small green infrastructure, such as green roofs and walls, has the potential to mitigate urban flooding, attenuate indoor temperatures and heat islands, improve air quality, and muffle noise, among other benefits, but these effects have not been linked directly to health. Larger green infrastructure has been associated with reduced temperatures, air pollution, and crimes and violence, but less so with health, although some evidence suggests that it may be beneficial for health (e.g., good health, decreased mortality). Finally, parks and street trees show many health benefits, but it is not clear if they can always be considered green infrastructure.

Integrating ecosystem services into sustainable landscape management: A collaborative approach

The Paiva River is considered one of the least polluted rivers in Europe and its watershed has a high conservation value. However, the Paiva River basin suffers pressures related with recurrent disturbances in land use, such as forest fires, agricultural activities, urbanization and pressures that affect the natural hydromorphological conditions and the continuity of watercourses. Blue and Green Infrastructures (BGINs) emerge to improve biodiversity, sustainability and the supply of ecosystem services while improving socioeconomic aspects. Thus, this article aims to identify priority areas in the basin, for intervention with these infrastructures. For that, a spatial multicriteria decision analysis (MDCA) was carried out according to several data related to the Paiva River Basin. As local politicians and responsible entities for the natural resources management are the main experts on the problems and their possible solutions at the local level, they were involved in this decision-making model. Therefore, these specialized stakeholders did the weighting assignment according to the most or least importance of the same for the work. The map of priority locations to implement BGINs was obtained in the sequel. To the top 5 priority areas, stakeholders attributed the best solutions based on nature. The most recommended BGINs were recovery/maintenance of riparian vegetation and conservation and reforestation of the native forest, both presented in four of the five areas, and introduction of fuel management strips presented in three of the five areas. Thus, we concluded that it is extremely important to include the communities and the competent entities of nature and environment management in scientific projects related to conservation, forming a synergy that makes it possible to combine scientific knowledge with local experience acquired in the field. This project uses a very flexible methodology of local data and can be a great example to be implemented in other hydrographic basins anywhere in the world.

Does Air Pollution Impact Fiscal Sustainability? Evidence from Chinese Cities

Fiscal sustainability is an issue of great concern for governments globally and air pollution control has become an important factor affecting fiscal sustainability. This study aims to examine the impact of air pollution on fiscal sustainability in the short and long run. We conducted an empirical analysis based on air pollution and local government debt data on China’s prefecture-level cities in 2014–2019, using regression discontinuity design (RDD) and a panel data model. The results show that air pollution reduces the debt burden of governments in the short run. However, in the long run, addressing the negative impacts of air pollution adds to the debt burden of local governments, hindering fiscal sustainability. Fiscal freedom and the level of public services significantly moderate the negative impact of air pollution on fiscal sustainability. A higher level of fiscal freedom generally indicates a greater incentive for local governments to raise pollutant emission standards, strengthen the construction of green infrastructure, and subsidize green enterprises. Furthermore, a higher level of public services reflects better infrastructure and higher levels of investment in environmental protection, which help to reduce the negative impact of air pollution. The governments are suggested to take measures to effectively control air pollution, so as to enhance fiscal stability in the long run.

Assessing the Value of Urban Green Infrastructure Ecosystem Services for High-Density Urban Management and Development: Case from the Capital Core Area of Beijing, China

Urban green infrastructure (UGI) includes green and blue open spaces that provide multiple ecosystem services (ES) and the ecological and cultural benefits for people to hedge the urbanization challenges. In this paper, we assessed the total economic value of ES provided by UGI in the capital core area of Beijing by calculating the value of six types of ES related to high-density urban features: (1) climate regulation, (2) carbon sequestration and oxygen production, (3) water control and conservation, (4) air pollution reduction, (5) noise reduction (6) cultural services through the combination of replacement cost, carbon tax, shadow project, afforestation cost, and market price methods. The results showed that UGI generated economic benefits in the surveyed area of about CNY ¥1.56 billion (USD $240 million) per year or CNY ¥91.76 (USD $14) per capita. The largest share of ES came from carbon sequestration and oxygen production, amounting to about 46.32% of the total ES value. Our findings also revealed that the distribution of ES value patterns varied across communities. This study enhanced the understanding of local UGI and had significant policy implications for future urban sustainable management, both in the capital core area of Beijing and in other high-density urban areas.

Using Social Media Data to Evaluate Urban Parks Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the context of increasing urbanization and associated economic, social and environmental challenges, cities have increasingly acknowledged the importance of urban parks in delivering social, economic and environmental benefits to the population. The importance has been demonstrated also during the COVID-19 pandemic that generated lockdowns and reduced the capacity of urban inhabitants in accessing such benefits. The present study aims to determine how the presence in urban parks was reflected on social media during the pandemic period of 2020. We examined Instagram posts associated with a sample of eight urban parks in Bucharest, Romania and also the entire history of Google reviews between January and August 2020. The selection of parks was made according to their size, location in Bucharest, previous reported number of visitors and profile of attractiveness. Results revealed that the peak period of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first initiation of the lockdowns strongly affected the recreation and leisure activities that people performed almost daily in the parks of Bucharest. Reviews and comments of the population were not that focused on the pandemic even after the restrictions were lifted, but they evidenced the positive and negative aspects of each park. Our results can represent a useful instrument for local administrations in determining both the flow of visitors but also their perceptions towards the endowments, landscape and most important management of urban parks.

Assessment of Blue and Green Infrastructure Solutions in Shaping Urban Public Spaces—Spatial and Functional, Environmental, and Social Aspects

Blue and Green Infrastructure (BGI) provide one of the key Nature Based Solution (NBS) approaches for sustainable stormwater management in cities, in conjunction with extending the scope of Ecosystem Services (ES). In both the process of planning and designing highly urbanized areas, the implementation of BGI is important for the improvement of living conditions and counteracting the negative effects of climate change. Based on the literature review, 19 BGI solutions were identified and then valorized in relation to the following three key aspects: spatial and functional, environmental, and social. The results of the assessment were derived using the scoring method and allowed for the identification of BGI solutions with a high, medium or low value for shaping sustainable urban public spaces. Using the potential of analyzed BGI solutions to improve the functioning and attractiveness of urban areas requires a comprehensive approach. Conscious planning and designing should use the knowledge presented to make the implementation of BGI solutions as effective as possible in relation to the above-mentioned aspects of shaping urban public spaces.

Web of Science-Based Green Infrastructure: A Bibliometric Analysis in CiteSpace

Many cities worldwide are using re-greening strategies to help reverse urbanization patterns that aggravate environmental issues. Green infrastructure (GI) has become a significant and effective strategy to address environmental problems. To better understand GI, this study uses CiteSpace to analyze 5420 published papers in the field of GI on the Web of Science database from 1990-2020. This bibliometric analysis will help new scholars and researchers to better understand the current status and trends in GI research, as well as identify further research needed in the field. This study evaluated research on GI trends according to publication amounts, keywords, journals, disciplines, countries, institutions, and authors. Results show that, first, GI research has experienced rapid growth since 2014. Second, GI, ecosystem services, and city are the top three keywords related to GI research, with green roof as the keyword with the strongest linkage. Third, Sustainability, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, and Landscape and Urban Planning are the top three journals publishing GI research. Fourth, the top three disciplines researching GI are environmental science, engineering, and science and technology. Fifth, the USA is the top ranked country in terms of the number of published GI-related papers (1514 papers), followed by China (730 papers) and England (546 papers). Sixth, the US Environmental Protection Agency (84 papers) is the top institution in terms of publications, followed by the Chinese Academy of Science (83 papers) and the Swedish University of Agriculture (66 papers). Finally, D. Haase has the most published articles (29 papers), followed by S. Pauleit (28 papers) and P. Angelstam (26 papers). These findings indicate that GI has developed significantly in the last 30 years, with a high probability for increased growth in the future.

Whose Urban Green? Mapping and Classifying Public and Private Green Spaces in Padua for Spatial Planning Policies

The rising environmental issues on contemporary cities urgently calls for sustainable planning policies. Implementation of nature-based solutions, ecosystem services, and green infrastructures associated to green spaces management is at present of paramount importance. In contrast to policies mainly focused on public greenery, the inclusion of private green in planning strategies might be a promising pathway. The general aim is mapping and classifying urban green spaces in Padua, a city of 93.3 km2 (Northeast Italy). Specific aims are (i) testing an NDVI-derived extraction from very high-resolution orthophotos; (ii) classifying property status; (iii) highlighting multilevel relationships and strategies for urban green spaces implementation and management; (iv) assessing greenery in relation to per capita population. By performing remote sensing and GIS analyses, a first detailed global map of urban green spaces in Padua was created; then, binary classification and thematic maps for rural/non-rural, public/private, municipal/non-municipal greenery were produced for all urban units. Results show that, among total green spaces (52.23 km2), more than half are rural. Moreover, private green spaces represent 80%, while within public areas (20%) less than 10% are municipal (5 km2). We therefore highlight scenarios for planning policies in Padua by providing tools to policymakers for an integrated management of green spaces, where private greenery might also contribute to ecosystem services implementation for common urban well-being.

Bridging the science-practice gaps in nature-based solutions: A riverfront planning in China

Prominent gaps exist between science and practice in the field of nature-based solutions (NBS) worldwide, with relatively well formulated concepts but less clear application procedures. China urgently needs to address this gap because many so called NBS practices advance rapidly nowadays, including river landscapes. Advocating planning as a bridging procedure in China's top down governance system, this study introduces NBS planning for the Jialing River in Wusheng County to address three challenges: how to transform the riverfront planning from specialized to holistic, how to effectively communicate NBS in planning, and how to incorporate both scientific results and local wisdom into NBS decision-making. A planning scope was negotiated to incorporate holistic solutions. Five NBS paradigms were identified for better communication, and then spatially allocated with specific design guidelines and governance strategies. Our pilot study calls for reflection on the communication of NBS to the public, and alternative models of NBS implementations customized to different government regimes.

Assessing the ecological balance between supply and demand of blue-green infrastructure

Given that improving urban ecological environment requires a clear recognition of the urban ecological elements, investigating the ecosystem service capabilities of urban green-blue infrastructures (UGBIs) becomes ever important. This study aims to reveal and compare the synergistic ecosystem service ability of UGBIs with different characteristics and the relationship with human demand in Wuhan city. It was found that the climate regulation service and water regulation service value of lake-type parks both reached the highest over the other UGBIs. Nature-type parks revealed the most capable cultural service, and green-type parks demonstrated the greatest exercise cultural service value. The analysis showed that the ecosystem services delivered by the UGBIs were influenced by the park area, the total value of the normalized difference vegetation index and normalized water body index, and the distance from the city centre. Furthermore, a significant spatial phenomenon was found that the ecological capacity of lake-type parks in the city centre was higher than that of the other UGBIs at the same location. Regarding the relationship with the human activity intensity, the high-demand and high-supply regions were mainly concentrated in highly developed areas in terms of regulating services. Nevertheless, a severe environmental inequality occurred in small urban centres, which requires urgent attention from the government. This work answered the question of where and how to optimize the green-blue infrastructures in Wuhan, and it contributes to the construction of the existing blue-green space.

International approaches to protecting and retaining trees on private urban land

Most studies of urban forest management look at vegetation on public land. Yet, to meet ambitious urban forest targets, cities must attempt to maintain or increase trees and canopy cover on private urban land too. In this study, we review and evaluate international approaches to protecting and retaining trees on private urban land. Our study combines a systematic academic literature review, two empirical social science studies on the views of urban forest professionals, and a global case study review of innovative regulations and incentives aimed at protecting and retaining trees on private urban land. Case studies were evaluated for the extent they exceeded minimum standards or went beyond 'business-as-usual'. We found that the most innovative mechanisms combine many regulations, instead of relying on a single regulation, and use financial incentives to retain or plant trees in newly developed or re-developed sites, as well as private residences. We did not find any cases where appropriate monitoring was in place to determine the efficacy and efficiency of these mechanisms. We also found no single simple solution that could effectively and efficiently protect and retain trees on private land. Only by combining policies, planning schemes, local laws, and financial incentives with community engagement and stewardship will cities protect and retain trees on private land. Useful and innovative ways to protecting and retaining trees on private land involves providing solutions at multiple governments levels, embedding trees in existing strategic policy and management solutions, incentivising positive behavior, creating regulations that require payment up front, and engaging the broader community in private tree stewardship.

Influence of Blue-Green and Grey Infrastructure Combinations on Natural and Human-Derived Capital in Urban Drainage Planning

The natural capital and ecosystem services concepts describe the multiple benefits people get from nature. Urbanisation has been identified as one of the key factors influencing the decline of natural capital globally. Urbanisation has also been associated with a recent increase in urban flooding incidents in most cities globally. While the understanding of blue-green infrastructure in urban drainage is well established, little is said about its influence on natural capital. This study utilises the Natural Capital Planning Tool, Benefits Evaluation of Sustainable Drainage Systems tool and expert stakeholder interviews to assess the influence of blue-green and grey infrastructure as adaptation pathways in urban drainage, on natural capital and ecosystem services, and to determine how these contribute to other forms of human-derived capital. Key findings show that blue-green options can enhance natural capital and ecosystem services such as amenity value while also contributing to social and human capital. Although the assessed blue-green options contribute to regulating ecosystem services such as floods regulation, their most significant contribution is in cultural ecosystem services, especially amenity value. It is concluded that incorporating blue-green infrastructure in urban drainage adaptive approaches can mitigate natural capital losses and contribute to other forms of capital crucial for human well-being.

Planning of Urban Green Spaces: An Ecological Perspective on Human Benefits

In the context of urban land-use growth and the consequent impacts on the environment, green spaces provide ecosystem services for human health. The ecosystem services concept synthesises human–environmental interactions through a series of combined components of biodiversity and abiotic elements, linking ecological processes and functions. The concept of green infrastructure (GI) in the urban context emphasises the quality and quantity of urban and peri-urban green spaces and natural areas. In dense urban contexts, the applications of GI are limited and not applied to the potential urban spaces such as roofs and gardens. Often, roofs are characterised by impermeable paved surfaces with negative effects on human well-being, whereas garden designs do not consider social needs and environmental interactions. The role of urban stressors or the urban context as a driving force or pressure of urban green space is not always well understood and employed in the planning of green spaces. This is partly due to a knowledge gap between different science disciplines that operate on different scales, from single processes of the plants (which focus on plant responses to environmental stresses affecting human well-being) to urban ecosystems (which focus on the biodiversity and urban space planning–human well-being relationship). This can create a paradox, as green spaces that are not adequately designed might not produce the expected effects. In this paper, an overview of benefits and limitations of applying the ecosystem services approach when designing green spaces is presented. The focus is on the main urban ecosystem services provided by green roofs and community gardens such as GI that can represent strategies to provide ecological and social multifunctionality to waterproofed surfaces connected to the buildings and low-exploited gardens being the main areas that affect dense urban settlements, and thus, increasing the ecosystem services in the urban environment, such as reducing the Urban Heat Island, as well as flooding events. Specifically, the paper highlights (i) feedback between ecological processes and functions that support ecosystem services, (ii) urban environmental stresses in relation to disservices that these can create for human well-being and (iii) key issues that should be considered in the planning and design of urban ecosystem services. Such a new vision of urban ecosystem services highlights the need to look at GI as an active part of the urban space design in the built environment.

Social Barriers and the Hiatus from Successful Green Stormwater Infrastructure Implementation across the US

Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), a nature-inspired, engineered stormwater management approach, has been increasingly implemented and studied especially over the last two decades. Though recent studies have elucidated the social benefits of GSI implementation in addition to its environmental and economic benefits, the social factors that influence its implementation remain under-explored thus, there remains a need to understand social barriers on decisions for GSI. This review draws interdisciplinary research attention to the connections between such social barriers and the potentially underlying cognitive biases that can influence rational decision making. Subsequently, this study reviewed the agent-based modeling (ABM) approach in decision support for promoting innovative strategies in water management for long-term resilience at an individual level. It is suggested that a collaborative and simultaneous effort in governance transitioning, public engagement, and adequate considerations of demographic constraints are crucial to successful GSI acceptance and implementation in the US.

Green development challenges within the environmental management framework

Green development of energy, water and environment systems is essential as these three systems represent the basic life needs of humankind. Therefore, environmental problems arising from each of these three systems need to be carefully addressed to preserve the energy, water and environment resources for future generations. This paper discusses some of the latest developments in three main areas of sustainability themes, namely energy, water and environment, that emerged from the 14th Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) Conference held in 2019. As such, it acts as an editorial paper for the virtual special issue of the Journal of Environmental Management, dedicated to the SDEWES 2019 conference.

Improving City Vitality through Urban Heat Reduction with Green Infrastructure and Design Solutions: A Systematic Literature Review

Cities are prone to excess heat, manifesting as urban heat islands (UHIs). UHIs impose a heat penalty upon urban inhabitants that jeopardizes human health and amplifies the escalating effects of background temperature rises and heatwaves, presenting barriers to participation in city life that diminish interaction and activity. This review paper investigates how green infrastructure, passive design and urban planning strategies—herein termed as green infrastructure and design solutions (GIDS)—can be used to cool the urban environment and improve city vitality. A systematic literature review has been undertaken connecting UHIs, city vitality and GIDS to find evidence of how qualities and conditions fundamental to the vitality of the city are diminished by heat, and ways in which these qualities and conditions may be improved through GIDS. This review reveals that comfortable thermal conditions underpin public health and foster activity—a prerequisite for a vital city—and that reducing environmental barriers to participation in urban life enhances physical and mental health as well as activity. This review finds that GIDS manage urban energy flows to reduce the development of excess urban heat and thus improve the environmental quality of urban spaces. Furthermore, it finds that the most equitable approach to urban cooling is one that reduces the intensity of the meso-scale UHI that affects all urban inhabitants. Subsequently, a cooler urban fabric based on GIDS is proposed. A cohesive approach to the widespread adoption of GIDS shows potential to produce a cooler urban fabric that is human-centered in its function and aesthetic to enhance participation in public life and stimulate life on the streets. Four spatial scales are presented in which a combination of GIDS may be collectively implemented to reduce the meso-scale UHI, including the urban, intra-urban, building and body scales. This approach considers the interacting nature of GIDS applied within contrasting urban landscapes, and aims to produce cooler urban conditions, better walking environments, and ecosystem co-benefits to stimulate participation in physical activity and public life to underpin public health, productivity and livelihoods, thereby inducing city vitality.

Characterization of Urban Greening in a District of Lecce (Southern Italy) for the Analysis of CO2 Storage and Air Pollutant Dispersion

This paper is devoted to the assessment of urban greening effects on two important ecosystem services, i.e., air quality and CO2 storage, including the corresponding economic impacts in a real urban area, i.e., a district located in the Mediterranean city of Lecce (southern Italy). Two tools were employed, i-Tree Canopy and the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) microclimate model ENVI-met. i-Tree Canopy allowed fully determining the land-cover percentage on the basis of different ground cover classes and obtaining an estimate of annual values of CO2 storage, air pollutant removal, and economic benefits in the presence of urban greening. The estimate in i-Tree Canopy considered only the amount of greening; therefore, air pollutant removal estimates were only potential. As the vegetation was located in street canyons, its interaction with local meteorology and urban geometry strictly affected the dispersion of nitrogen oxides (NOx) (taken here as an example) as obtained from ENVI-met simulations. In ENVI-met, both deposition/absorption and aerodynamic effects were considered, and local increases in concentration were found in the district. The analysis of results obtained from different tools (one complex (CFD model) and the other simple (i-Tree model)) showed the error associated with the simple model in the computation of impacts if the interaction among the vegetation characteristics, the meteorological conditions, and the urban geometry was neglected; however, it also uncovers a novel approach for comprehensively characterizing a given area in terms of its vegetation cover, CO2 storage, and economic benefits, as well as local effects on air quality. This study is set in a broader context aimed at assessing the air quality in urban canopies of Mediterranean areas characterized by the presence of narrow street canyons where pollutants can accumulate due to ineffective air exchange with the above atmosphere.