Urban Forestry Dynamics: Management and Mechanization

Dear Colleagues,

Urban forestry management refers to the study of the planning, management, mechanization, practices, benefits, and impact of forests in urban areas. With ongoing rapid global urbanization, this research area has gained increasing importance, and urban forests have come to play a key role in mitigating climate change, enhancing biodiversity, improving the urban environment, and promoting human well-being. The management of urban forests is becoming a crucial point of confluence between humans and plants, but is also critical in terms of the more efficient use of the ecosystem services that urban forests can provide, as well as becoming one the main European policy areas regarding environmental protection and urban forestry. Alas, the management of urban green spaces and woodland still often relies on methods and tools rooted in the past and operating without scientific foundation that have, over time, caused multiple negative impacts to the structure and health of green spaces and trees in urban environments. Implementing a modern and innovative management approach to improving the characteristics, health, and functions of urban forests, as well as their impacts and associated management costs, has become essential. The use of tools for accurate evaluation (both visual and instrumental), the use of precision technologies for planning and management, and the use of innovative equipment, have come to represent focal points that enable more rational, efficient, and sustainable management. These goals can be achieved if modern technologies and devices are used, but also, and above all, if they are used appropriately in terms of the contexts in which they are deployed.

The goal of this Special Issue is to gather together papers (original research articles and review papers) that provide key insights into the intricate relationships between urban forests, planning, mechanization, operations, benefits, and impacts (i.e., impacts on soils or environmental impact), in the context of continual urbanization. The objective is to improve knowledge of urban forestry management, forestry planning in urban environments, the sustainability of urban forestry management, mechanization, and maintenance operations, and the effects they have on the environment, productivity, and safety of practitioners and ordinary citizens.

This Special Issue welcomes manuscripts that link the following themes:

• Urban forest management;
• Mechanization and operations;
• Impact of mechanization and operations;
• Planning of urban forests;
• Visual and instrumental assessment technologies;
• Management techniques and their benefits and impacts on the environment;
• New technologies in precision urban forestry.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Leonardo Bianchini
Dr. Marcello Biocca
Dr. Valerio Di Stefano
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• urban forest
• mechanization
• urban forest operations
• soil impact
• environmental effects
• technical and economic performance
• new technologies