The increasing urbanization has hampered the overall livelihood of urban dwellers. Urban heat island (UHI) is a significant consequence of urbanization on the earth's environment. Its geographical pattern, impact, and mitigation strategies remain poorly understood over large areas. The study aims at determining and analyzing how changing landscape patterns (macro) and dynamics (micro) affect the land

Rapid urban development threatens biodiversity, reducing local livelihoods and well-being when replacing natural habitat by urban structures. Although there is a lot of literature on the effects of urbanization on biodiversity, little has been investigated in South America. This study evaluated, for the first-time, bird community variation in an urban gradient of Nothofagus South-Antarctic forest in

Urban agriculture, which includes community gardens, provides ecosystem services but is continuously threatened by the densification of cities. Picardo Farm is the oldest community garden in Seattle. Its success and popularity inspired the municipality of Seattle to develop a city-wide public program called the P-Patch Community Gardening program. We evaluated the perceptions of Picardo Farm gardeners

Urban green space is considered as an effective means to promote active travel (AT). However, the existing research does not always get the positive effect of green space on AT, which may be regulated by the road classification. Roads are divided into five grades according to the function and flow of roads in China. Low-class roads are often characterized by low traffic flow and high accessibility

The ecosystem services provided by urban trees make substantial contributions to the urban environments. However, many of these ecosystem services are strongly connected to tree size and health which means that right tree for site and climate is essential. Whilst most urban forestry literature focuses on finding “the right tree for the right place” by describing the variation in physiological traits

Urban green space (UGS) is an essential element in the urban environment, providing multiple ecosystem services as well as beneficial effects on physical and mental health. In a time of societal crisis these effects may be amplified, but ensuring that they are maintained requires effective planning and management – which is a complex challenge given the rapid changes in modern society and the need

Concerns about food sovereignty in western nations have increased in recent years, as incidents of food-borne pathogens are highlighted in the popular press, and calls for locally-sourced food have increased. Wild food foraging has emerged as a response by some segments of the population under the twin rubrics of food sovereignty and food justice. However, virtually all studies looking at these activities

Understanding plant diversity spatial patterns within whole urban areas is essential for urban planners and managers to manage urban forests more effectively. However, until now, plant diversity spatial patterns at an urban scale in many cities have been obscured by sparse and scattered survey data. Our research, using the built–up area of Beijing as a case study, provides a new perspective to explore

Pollinators provide crucial urban ecosystem services. Introducing nectar-producing species on green roofs is one method to support pollinator populations. However, novel cultivation methods may be required to improve plant health with minimal irrigation on extensive green roofs, which are severely restricted in soil thickness. Although companion planting with CAM plants such as Sedum has been reported

Urban greenways have been recognized as an important strategy to improve human-scale quality in high-density built environments. Nevertheless, current greenway suitability analysis mainly focuses on geographical and natural issues, failing to account for human-scale urban design factors. Accordingly, this study proposes a data-informed approach to planning urban greenway networks using a combination

Environmental change as result of urbanisation can influence soil microbial communities in green areas. In cities, forests are among the most frequent types of green areas and provide a wide variety of ecosystem services for the residents, such as air cleaning, nutrient cycling and area for recreational activities. Mycorrhizal fungi play an important role for the establishment of trees and therefore

Previous studies have demonstrated health benefits result from exposure to natural environments. Virtual reality (VR) may offer an alternative to actual outdoor immersion by generating a simulated health-promoting environment. Given that health issues are more prevalent in older adults, this study investigated the restorative effects of virtual natural settings on middle-aged and elderly adults. A

Extensive green roof architecture is an effective and low-maintenance solution to reduce energy cost of heating or cooling the buildings, and can be used to mitigate several urbanization problems such as heat island effect, lack of green space, and excessive stormwater runoff. However, designs and vegetation selections of the extensive green roofs have primarily been based on the studies conducted

Soil organic matter (SOM) accumulation and carbon (C) sequestration are ecosystem services (ESs) provided by urban landscapes that are dominated by continuous grass cover, such as residential lawns. Organic matter and C sequestration are expected to increase over time, but few studies have determined potential soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation from residential lawns in semiarid climates. The objectives

It is increasingly evident that the general public’s recognition of local flora and fauna is typically inaccurate, because the majority of species are not recognized by ordinary people. These incorrect perceptions are a concern because they could lead to decreased public motivation for conservation and reduced health and well-being benefits that people gain when interacting with nature. However, there

Invasive species are drivers of urban ecosystem transformation. However, their management requires cost-demanding distributional data. Here we proposed an approach using floristic surveys, land-use maps, and field observations to reveal the patterns responsible for the spread of invasive trees using open-source software. We used the tree of heaven – Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle as a model species

Community gardening is a current global phenomenon and the general purposes of these horticultural areas in cities are to provide food but also for food security needs. Other ecosystem services, such as improving people’s quality of life, the urban environment and social relations, are also often underlined. Despite the increasing phenomenon of urban community gardens, planning guidelines concerning

Between 2010 and 2015, an assessment of ambient aerosol sources was carried in two unique fragments of the Atlantic Rain Forest in the surroundings of the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro (MRRJ). Airborne particulate matter samples were collected at Serra dos Órgãos National Park (43°04′42.1″W and 22°29′16.9″S) and Mário Xavier National Forest (43°42′21.8″W and 22°43′21.7″S). At the former site

Although previous studies have shown that both forest and natural light exposure can significantly affect psycho-physiological responses, how different natural light levels influence stress recovery efficacy in forest environments has not been discussed yet. A pretest-posttest design was used to explore the influence of varying brightness levels on stress recovery effect in a virtual forest environment

This article explores the relationship between contact with nature in childhood and adult personality. An international sample of 783 participants from 42 countries reported on their frequency of contact with specific natural environments in childhood and adulthood, and completed measures of adult personality and socio-demographic details. Multivariate regression, canonical correlations, and least-squares

Cities with resilience to climate change appear to be a vision of the future, but are inevitable to ensure the quality of life for citizens and to avoid an increase in civilian mortality. Urban green infrastructure (UGI), with the focus on vertical green, poses a beneficial mitigation and adaptation strategy for challenges such as climate change through cooling effects on building and street level

Tree stability evaluation is an important issue with great practical implications. In the recent years, tree potential to cause harm has been increasing in consequence of climate change effects, mainly related to windstorms and tree diseases that represent the main tree failure causes. A tree owner has a duty of safety, imposed by civil and penal laws; consequently, he must operate an appropriate tree

Urban trees provide a range of ecosystem services, including air purification. This specific ecosystem service can be quantified using i-Tree Eco software, but the software has some limitations. One limitation is that the pollution model used in the software cannot take into account spatial differences in pollutant concentrations, which occur in every city due to the diversity of polluters. This study

The elderly's needs and preferences for public open space seem different from who are not in elderly time; also, ageing requirements should be taken into consideration to improve older adults' active life. In this respect, creating active ageing requires a new approach to engage older citizens in outdoor environments viewed as healthy and sustainable by the seniors. This study aims to identify the

Cities in drylands are expected to experience increasing challenges when it comes to air pollution. Currently, concentrations of particulate matter in these cities frequently reach dangerous levels. Urban afforestation represents an alternative to increase human health in arid cities via air-filtering and dry deposition. By simulating a non-existing market through a contingent valuation protocol, this

Urban forests play an important role for urban dwellers, providing environmental, social and economic services. One of these benefits is the capacity of trees to provide food, an aspect which as the potential to increase food security that has been gaining increasing attention over the past few years. However, there is currently limited information about urban food forests in Brazil. The present study

Owing to the escalating production of waterworks sludge from growing population and water consumption, conventional options for the management of waterworks sludge may no longer be economically and environmentally viable. It is imperative to develop alternative measures for the sustainable management of waterworks sludge. This study explored the potential use of waterworks sludge as a soil substrate

Urban forests provide a variety of ecosystem services that influence environmental and social welfare, but variable distribution of urban tree canopy (UTC) within and among urban areas can lead to inequitable provisioning of these benefits. Variation in UTC among and within urban areas is associated with local development patterns and socio-economic factors as well as broad-scale variation in the biophysical

Ecological impairment is prevalent in built environment and habitat enrichment had begun in cities globally. Most commendable ecological landscaping initiatives are, however, centred around developed countries in temperate region. Thus the systemic approaches may be inept to capture and reflect the natural processes in tropical regions. This paper describes a novel attempt to address the deficiency

In planning for sustainable development of urban green space at the macro and regional levels, it is imperative to examine plant species of urban green spaces and to introduce new species considering climatic conditions, environmental pollution, industrial lifestyle, and resource limitations. The present study employs multi criteria decision making techniques to assess the existing and recommended

Studies on the psychological effects of nature have been increasing, but few studies have focused on individual differences in these effects. The purpose of this study was to examine the individual differences in the psychological effects of forest sounds based on Type A and Type B behavior patterns. The Kwansei Gakuin (KG) daily life questionnaire was used as an indicator for Type A and Type B behavior

In this study, the effect of air pollution due to different traffic congestion of intersections and distance from intersection center on seed germination characteristics of Cupressus arizonica and Pinus nigra were studied in Urmia, Iran. At first, all intersections were classified into three classes of low, moderate and high traffic congestion using Urmia Traffic and Transport Organization report,

This study aims to determine the physiological and psychosocial effects of forest therapy on the stress levels of middle-aged working women. Nineteen middle-aged working women (54.80 ± 0.68 years old) participated in a half-day forest therapy program conducted at Bukit Ekspo; A tree-dominated urban park located at the centre of Universiti Putra Malaysia. For the physiological indices, the systolic

At present scarce information is available on what biophysical parameters of plants are important to what kind of vegetation carbon stock, and what thresholds should be adopted in sampling different types of plants, and what species/plants store carbon most efficiently. The answer to these questions is significant as it dictates the reliability of the carbon stock estimate and estimation cost, and

Highway roadside landscapes can be used to increase urban canopy cover by way of tree planting and successful tree establishment. Soil compaction and topsoil removal resulting from construction activities along these roadside sites, contributes toward extensive and prolonged transplant stress; limiting the survival and effective establishment of planted trees. The current study sought to evaluate the

Encouraging physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviours are key issues in contemporary society. The Active Forest Programme was set up through a partnership between Sport England and Forestry England. A pilot programme ran for three years on five public forest sites in England. A mixed methodology explored what types of sport and physical activities were undertaken, what if any were the benefits

This study takes the littering of tourists in Xitou Nature Education Area in Taiwan as an example to analyze the relationships among tourists' environmental attitude, vandalism and cognitive dissonance. In this study, 500 questionnaires are distributed, and 499 questionnaires are returned. The subjects are the tourists of over 18 years of age in the Xitou Nature Education Area by convenience sampling

Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) is being implemented in cities around the globe. Although we know that GSI improves urban ecosystems in a variety of ways, we know little about the extent to which the characteristics of GSI impact human perception and preference. This gap in knowledge necessitates a greater understanding of the relationship between GSI perceptions and preference. Without this

The current challenges of urbanization and densification threaten the health of urban dwellers. Previous studies have shown that contact with; or perception of green spaces has beneficial impacts on human psychological wellbeing. However, residents and employees who live or work in high-rise buildings have little opportunity to access green spaces during working hours. We do not know whether viewing

Urban green spaces and water bodies play major roles in effectively alleviating the urban heat island (UHI) effect by decreasing temperature. Here, statistical correlation and regression analyses were carried out to examine the relationships between metrics (vegetation coverage, water coverage, area, leaf area (LA), and patch shape index (PSI)) and land surface temperature (LST) or cooling effect intensity

Urban forests are important hotspots of biodiversity in the environment of cities and their surroundings but may also stand out from neighbouring forests by greater tree species diversity, higher tree age and greater share of deciduous species. However, they are usually not connected with nesting of rare birds of prey, especially dietary specialists. Unexpectedly, I have found Honey Buzzard Pernis

Urban neighborhood green spaces provide ecosystem services important for sustainable and resilient cities. We examine public preferences for these ecosystem services by conducting a discrete choice experiment in Singapore. The results showed that the public preferred the contributions of neighborhood green spaces in reducing temperature (1, 2, or 3 °C), reducing air pollution (20 or 40 %), and learning

Integrating tree species diversity into urban forest management can help create resilient tree populations. In this study, the abundance of trees within families, genera, and species levels was determined through a system developed to evaluate the diversity of urban street trees at different scales. Municipal foresters were asked to report the six street tree species most commonly used in urban forests

While cemeteries represent a part of any society’s cultural heritage, their continued existence in urban areas has raised concerns, mainly due to the scarcity of urban land. Referring specifically to the Chinese cemeteries of Kuala Lumpur, this paper explored the perceptions among the local Chinese residents of the possible multi-dimensional uses of cemeteries for recreational purposes. This issue

Allotment gardening systems are widely used to provide urban residents with small-scale community agricultural plots. Originating in local food production needs, allotments provide multiple additional benefits and contribute to urban resilience. Despite overwhelming evidence of the diversity of benefits that they offer, allotments are under threat, though the extent of the decline in provision remains

Research on public open spaces (POS) and well-being benefits has been extensively studied in developed countries such as in Australia, Europe, and America, however, in developing countries such as Bangladesh, there is very limited research. This study, carried out in six popular POS in Chittagong, Bangladesh, explored visitors’ activities in POS and their perception on well-being outcomes. It also

Although assessing green space provisions is essential to understand environmental justice, few studies have focused on the age perspective and the inequality in access regarding elderly people. This study aims at understanding the spatial disparity in access to urban green and blue infrastructure (UGBI), with a special focus on the elderly. An enhanced “2SFCA” approach was applied to measure the per

Modern cities are constantly growing; this fact provokes strong environmental pressure as pollution, health problems, stress, and other troubles which as a whole reduces the citizens’ life quality. Some decades ago, the concept sustainable urban planning was created; the concept intends to generate friendly cities with a planned development. This research contributes to this task evaluating the potential

Parks are integral part of the urban environment because of the economic, structural, socio-cultural and ecological roles they perform. Unfortunately, the city of Kumasi, which was historically referred to as ‘the garden city of West Africa’ is experiencing rapid urban growth which continues to threaten the sustainability of the green spaces in the city. This paper seeks to assess the state of parks

In addition to social and economic benefits, urban trees provide habitats for many different species and contribute significantly to urban biodiversity. To prevent harm to humans or infrastructure, tree risk assessment is conducted regularly in urban areas. Resultant pruning activities are often criticized as leading to unnecessary injuries and artificial tree shapes. In this study we compared different

Cities around the world are pursuing tree planting as a way to increase tree cover. Despite the growing interest in planting trees as a way to offset climate change, counter the negative impacts of urbanization, and provide benefits to city dwellers, there has not been a recent effort to quantify the number of trees being planted nor the species composition of these plantings. Because ecosystem services

Urban ecosystems can host a considerable amount of biodiversity because of the varying habitats created during urban development processes. Spontaneous vegetation is a neglected element of urban biodiversity, and the roles of a city’s natural floristic resources, geomorphic features, and topographic characteristics in shaping spontaneous plant diversity patterns have not been fully clarified. We explored

Reducing night-time air temperature by irrigating urban greenery can ameliorate heat stress in cities. Past studies often used modelling approaches to investigate the irrigation cooling effect during heatwaves. However, few observational studies have compared the differences in micro-scale irrigation cooling effect between heatwave and non-heatwave conditions. This study examines whether nocturnal

Sustainable urban forests require healthy trees with stable structures to improve provision of ecosystem services including air purification and climate mitigation to urban areas. Trees in compact residential areas are particularly prone to development of defects and unstable tree structures. We assessed in detail tree species, key structural and physiological defects, tree dimensions, growing habitats

In this article, we discuss the pros and cons of transdisciplinary research using the results of a research project on lawns carried out in Sweden from 2013 to 2016. We viewed lawns as a complex ecological and cultural phenomenon and searched for different sustainable lawn solutions in urban areas of Sweden. Constraints on the research included the time and effort required for team members to become

Nocturnal sap flow is an important part of plant sap flow, while it is usually regarded as negligible. Consequently, the aim of this study was to measure nocturnal stem sap flow of Acer truncatum and to determine its driving force in an urban green space. Stomatal aperture was measured using surface impression method in a typical clear day of August. Sap flux density was monitored by a thermal diffusive

Green roofs play an important role for cities in mediating some problems caused by urbanization. Mosses are ecologically important plants and capable of tolerating harsh conditions, and thus their use for greening building surfaces has become more common. There is only a little information concerning moss-associated microbes, especially those found in green roof environments. Moss-associated microbes