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Talal ML, Gruntman M. Urban nature visitation, accessibility, and impact of travel distance for sustainable cities. Sci Rep 2023; 13:17808. [PMID: 37853084 PMCID: PMC10584958 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-44861-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Accessible urban nature is a key component of creating sustainable urban communities and promoting human health and well-being. To balance the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, the United Nations adopted several sustainable developmental goals (SDGs), such as SDG 11 for sustainable cities and communities, which aims to improve urban planning and management, including equitable access to urban nature. However, more information is still needed regarding how planners and managers can promote urban nature visitation and equitable access during health and environmental crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to examine trends in urban nature visitation during the pandemic and then to determine if the effect of the pandemic on the frequency of urban nature site visitation varied by distance to home, using an innovative approach of analyzing both publicly available large-scale mobility data and a web-based survey of urban residents of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. The mobility data results showed that there was a negative mean % difference in park visits compared to baseline during the first and third lockdowns, but an increase compared to baseline between lockdowns and even during the second lockdown. This suggests that urban residents had greater need to reconnect with urban nature during and after periods of intense stress. In addition, the survey results showed an increasing negative effect of distance on urban nature site visitation during the pandemic, specifically for urban nature sites located more than 1 km from home. Altogether, the mobility data and survey results suggest that people who lived within 1 km of their preferred urban nature site had disproportionate access to the benefits of urban nature during and after lockdowns than others. To effectively make social and ecological transitions toward urban sustainability, it is vital that cities promote urban nature accessibility during current and future environmental and health crises. Cities should collaborate with diverse stakeholders to create/maintain accessible urban nature sites nearby all sociodemographic groups, provide sustainability education and training to convey the benefits of urban nature, and pursue participatory solutions for understanding urban nature needs and preferences. In this manner, it will be possible to address the growing influence of proximity/travel distance and additional factors that affect urban nature visitation and ultimately, human health and urban sustainability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle L Talal
- Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.
- Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
| | - Michal Gruntman
- Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.
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Ewane EB, Bajaj S, Velasquez-Camacho L, Srinivasan S, Maeng J, Singla A, Luber A, de-Miguel S, Richardson G, Broadbent EN, Cardil A, Jaafar WSWM, Abdullah M, Corte APD, Silva CA, Doaemo W, Mohan M. Influence of urban forests on residential property values: A systematic review of remote sensing-based studies. Heliyon 2023; 9:e20408. [PMID: 37842597 PMCID: PMC10568372 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Revised: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Urban forests provide direct and indirect benefits to human well-being that are increasingly captured in residential property values. Remote Sensing (RS) can be used to measure a wide range of forest and vegetation parameters that allows for a more detailed and better understanding of their specific influences on housing prices. Herein, through a systematic literature review approach, we reviewed 89 papers (from 2010 to 2022) from 21 different countries that used RS data to quantify vegetation indices, forest and tree parameters of urban forests and estimated their influence on residential property values. The main aim of this study was to understand and provide insights into how urban forests influence residential property values based on RS studies. Although more studies were conducted in developed (n = 55, 61.7%) than developing countries (n = 34, 38.3%), the results indicated for the most part that increasing tree canopy cover on property and neighborhood level, forest size, type, greenness, and proximity to urban forests increased housing prices. RS studies benefited from spatially explicit repetitive data that offer superior efficiency to quantify vegetation, forest, and tree parameters of urban forests over large areas and longer periods compared to studies that used field inventory data. Through this work, we identify and underscore that urban forest benefits outweigh management costs and have a mostly positive influence on housing prices. Thus, we encourage further discussions about prioritizing reforestation and conservation of urban forests during the urban planning of cities and suburbs, which could support UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and urban policy reforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ewane Basil Ewane
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
- Ecoresolve Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA, 94105
- Department of Geography, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, University of Buea, P.O. BOX 63 Buea, Cameroon
| | - Shaurya Bajaj
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
- Ecoresolve Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA, 94105
| | - Luisa Velasquez-Camacho
- Unit of Applied Artificial Intelligence, Eurecat, Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Av. Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 5198 Lleida, Spain
| | - Shruthi Srinivasan
- Department of Forest Analytics, Texas A&M Forest Service, Dallas, TX 75252, USA
| | - Juyeon Maeng
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
- AAP Labs, Cornell University, USA
| | - Anushka Singla
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
| | - Andrea Luber
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
| | - Sergio de-Miguel
- Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Av. Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 5198 Lleida, Spain
- Joint Research Unit CTFC-AGROTECNIO-CERCA, Ctra. Sant Llorenç de Morunys km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain
| | - Gabriella Richardson
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Guelph, Guelph ON, Canada
| | - Eben North Broadbent
- Spatial Ecology and Conservation (SPEC) Lab, School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, PO Box 110410, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Adrian Cardil
- Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Av. Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 5198 Lleida, Spain
- Joint Research Unit CTFC-AGROTECNIO-CERCA, Ctra. Sant Llorenç de Morunys km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain
- Tecnosylva, S.L Parque Tecnológico de León, 24004 León, Spain
| | - Wan Shafrina Wan Mohd Jaafar
- Earth Observation Centre, Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Meshal Abdullah
- Department of Geography, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, P.O. Box 50, Oman
- Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Ana Paula Dalla Corte
- BIOFIX Research Center, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba 80210-170, Brazil
| | - Carlos Alberto Silva
- Forest Biometrics, Remote Sensing and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (Silva Lab), University of Florida, USA
| | - Willie Doaemo
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
- Department of Civil Engineering, Papua New Guinea University of Technology, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea
- Morobe Development Foundation, Doyle Street, Trish Avenue-Eriku, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
| | - Midhun Mohan
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
- Ecoresolve Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA, 94105
- Department of Geography, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
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Ha J, Lee S. Do the determinants of COVID-19 transmission differ by epidemic wave? Evidence from U.S. counties. CITIES (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2022; 131:103892. [PMID: 35942406 PMCID: PMC9350674 DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2022.103892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2021] [Revised: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/31/2022] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
This paper uses data from the United States to examine determinants of the spread of COVID-19 during three different epidemic waves. We address how sociodemographic and economic attributes, industry composition, density, crowding in housing, and COVID-19-related variables are associated with the transmission of COVID-19. After controlling for spatial autocorrelation, our findings indicate that the percentage of people in poverty, number of restaurants, and percentage of workers teleworking were associated with the COVID-19 incidence rate during all three waves. Our results also show that dense areas were more vulnerable to the transmission of COVID-19 after the first epidemic wave. Regarding the density of supermarkets, our study elaborates the negative aspects of wholesale retail stores, which likely provide a vulnerable place for virus transmission. Our results suggest that sociodemographic and economic attributes were the determinants of the early phase of the pandemic, while density showed positive association with the transmission during subsequent waves. We provide implications for regions serving as gateway cities with high density and number of population. To add, we further provide evidence that non-pharmaceutical interventions in the early stage may mitigate the virus transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaehyun Ha
- Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sugie Lee
- Department of Urban Planning & Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea
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Sustainability Development: Assessment of Selected Indicators of Sustainable Energy Development in Poland and in Selected EU Member States Prior to COVID-19 and Following the Third Wave of COVID-19. ENERGIES 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/en15062135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
An important question in the literature on climate change and sustainable development is the relationship between countries’ economic growth, household electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related economic restrictions, sustainable economic growth remains at the forefront of the global development agenda. However, given the strong relationship between the ever increasing electricity consumption and greenhouse gas CO2 emissions, an increasing number of scientists have been questioning the feasibility of the planned emission reduction. In my research, I strove to determine whether there exists a relationship between the change in the structure of electricity consumption of households in selected EU Member States (15 countries), the impact of innovation, changes in electricity prices and economic growth, and CO2 emissions in 2007–2019, prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and following its third wave (2021). The aim of the article is to propose a synthetic index to assess the degree of sustainable energy development (SISED) in selected EU countries. Multiobjective decision analysis (MODA) was applied in order to assess the sustainable energy development of the selected European countries. Research findings may contribute to both literature and practice if they are applied by individual EU countries in the process of formulating directions aimed at achieving sustainable energy development.
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