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Land
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Ecosystem Services and Urban Green Spaces: Planning, Policy Development and...
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Ecosystem Services and Urban Green Spaces: Planning, Policy Development and Governance Implications

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Landscape Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2024 | Viewed by 5493

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Luca Battisti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Interests: ecosystem services; participatory mapping; nature-based solutions; landscape ecology
Dr. Fabrizio Aimar

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA
Interests: resilience; landscape resilience; cultural heritage; landscape planning; sustainable architecture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Federico Cuomo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Polytechnic of Milan, School of Management, Milan, Italy
Interests: collaborative governance; circular economy; co-production; policy analysis; management of protected areas

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Urban ecosystems are home to the majority of the world's population. These ecosystems are complex and constantly changing. Green areas, in which we would like to include urban horticulture, cemeteries, urban forests and nature-based solutions in this context, are essential components for the well-being of citizens, providing several ecosystem services (ES). 

In order to benefit from these services over time, it is necessary to map and assess them, as well as analyze and improve policy tools, collaborative governance patterns and urban planning strategies.

This Special Issue focuses on mapping and assessing urban ES; planning urban green spaces in order to improve the provision of ES; formulating consistent policies and strengthening government management of green spaces; analyzing the functioning of collaborative governance arrangements related to urban green spaces; and deepening the set of innovative policy tools (e.g., living labs) used to establish ES.

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

Dr. Luca Battisti
Dr. Fabrizio Aimar
Dr. Federico Cuomo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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.

Keywords

  • ecosystem services
  • green areas
  • urban ecology
  • green infrastructure
  • urban forest
  • urban resilience
  • urban planning and policies
  • urban governance
  • urban horticulture
  • cemeteries and sacred places

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 4412 KiB  
Article
Assessing Spatial Heterogeneity in Urban Park Vitality for a Sustainable Built Environment: A Case Study of Changsha
by Liwei Qin, Wenke Zong, Kai Peng and Rongpeng Zhang
Land 2024, 13(4), 480; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13040480 - 08 Apr 2024
Viewed by 498
Abstract
In the realm of sustainable city development, evaluating the spatial vitality of urban green spaces (UGS) has become increasingly pivotal for assessing public space quality. This study delves into the spatial heterogeneity of park vitality across diverse urban landscapes at a city scale, [...] Read more.
In the realm of sustainable city development, evaluating the spatial vitality of urban green spaces (UGS) has become increasingly pivotal for assessing public space quality. This study delves into the spatial heterogeneity of park vitality across diverse urban landscapes at a city scale, addressing limitations inherent in conventional approaches to understanding the dynamics of park vitality. Leveraging geotagged check-in data from 65 parks in the study case of Changsha City, a quantitative analysis was undertaken to assess spatial vitality. The investigation incorporated data concerning internal and external factors influencing park vitality, employing the Multi-scale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) model to dissect nuanced spatial heterogeneity. The research uncovers notable spatial discrepancies in factors influencing park vitality across diverse urban areas, emphasizing the reliance on adjacent residential communities and internal commercial amenities provision. These dependencies correspond with economic development differences among urban locales, revealing distinct geographic trends. This study has a novel perspective and methodology for investigating urban park vitality, providing significant insights for urban green space planning and management. It emphasizes the necessity of acknowledging spatial diversity in urban park planning and design by incorporating the distinct socio-economic characteristics of each urban zone, which is crucial for both urban planners and policymakers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem Services and Urban Green Spaces: Planning, Policy Development and Governance Implications)
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29 pages, 6417 KiB  
Article
Evolution Model, Mechanism, and Performance of Urban Park Green Areas in the Grand Canal of China
by Zihan Cai, Sidong Zhao, Mengshi Huang and Congguo Zhang
Land 2024, 13(1), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13010042 - 30 Dec 2023
Viewed by 882
Abstract
Urban park green areas are part of territorial space planning, shouldering the mission of providing residents with high-quality ecological products and public space. Using a combination of several measurement models such as the BCG (Boston Consulting Group) matrix, ESDA (Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis), [...] Read more.
Urban park green areas are part of territorial space planning, shouldering the mission of providing residents with high-quality ecological products and public space. Using a combination of several measurement models such as the BCG (Boston Consulting Group) matrix, ESDA (Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis), MLR (Machine Learning Regression), GWR (Geographically Weighted Regression), and GeoDetector, this paper presents an empirical study on the changes in Urban Park Green Areas (UPGAs) in the Grand Canal of China. By quantitatively measuring the spatio–temporal evolution patterns of UPGAs, this study reveals the driving mechanisms behind them and proposes policy recommendations for planning and management based on performance evaluation. The spatio–temporal evolution of UPGAs and their performance in China’s Grand Canal are characterized by significant spatial heterogeneity and correlation, with diversified development patterns such as HH (High-scale–High-growth), HL (High-scale–Low-growth), LH (Low-scale–High-growth), and LL (Low-scale–Low-growth) emerging. The evolution performance is dominated by positive oversupply and positive equilibrium, where undersupply coexists with oversupply. Therefore, this paper recommends the implementation of a zoning strategy in the future spatial planning of ecological green areas, urban parks, and green infrastructure. It is also recommended to design differentiated construction strategies and management policies for each zoning area, while promoting inter-city mutual cooperation in the joint preparation and implementation of integrated symbiosis planning. Furthermore, the spatio–temporal evolution of the UPGAs in the Grand Canal of China is influenced by many factors with very complex dynamic mechanisms, and there are significant differences in the nature, intensity, spatial effects, and interaction effects between different factors. Therefore, in the future management of ecological green areas, urban parks, and green infrastructure, it is necessary to interconnect policies to enhance their synergies in population, aging, industry and economy, and ecological civilization to maximize the policy performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem Services and Urban Green Spaces: Planning, Policy Development and Governance Implications)
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19 pages, 4006 KiB  
Article
Spatial Trade-Offs and Synergies between Ecosystem Services in Guangdong Province, China
by Qian Xu, Ying Yang, Ren Yang, Li-Si Zha, Zi-Qing Lin and Shu-Hao Shang
Land 2024, 13(1), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13010032 - 26 Dec 2023
Viewed by 930
Abstract
The trade-offs between ecosystem services directly affect the quality of the ecological environment and the survival and development of human society, which is of great concern to academia, governments, and non-governmental organizations. Guangdong Province is a strong economic performer in China; hence, we [...] Read more.
The trade-offs between ecosystem services directly affect the quality of the ecological environment and the survival and development of human society, which is of great concern to academia, governments, and non-governmental organizations. Guangdong Province is a strong economic performer in China; hence, we selected it to explore the trade-off and synergy differences between different ecosystem services, and to investigate the mechanisms of their influence in economically developed regions with a large population density. Our results showed three main points: (1) The ecosystem services in Guangdong Province showed clear spatial heterogeneity. In addition, northern Guangdong has high levels of water retention, with a value of 5804.73 × 104 m3/km2 and high values for carbon sequestration and soil retention. Western Guangdong is a functional area for food production, and the Pearl River Delta is an economically developed region with low levels of ecosystem services. (2) Overall, in Guangdong Province, three pairs of ecosystem services, namely water retention–soil retention, carbon sequestration–water retention, and carbon sequestration–soil retention, showed a strong positive correlation and good synergistic relationships. The other three pairs of relationships show strong trade-off effects. (3) The relationships between similar ecosystem services show completely different characteristics in different regions. Carbon sequestration and water retention, carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation, water retention and biodiversity conservation, and soil retention and biodiversity conservation were mainly manifested in high–high synergies, particularly in northern Guangdong; carbon sequestration and soil retention and water retention and soil retention, primarily manifested synergies; carbon sequestration and food production, water retention and food production, and soil retention and food production mainly manifested as trade-off relationships. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem Services and Urban Green Spaces: Planning, Policy Development and Governance Implications)
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24 pages, 4774 KiB  
Article
Impact of Land Use Changes on Ecosystem Services Supply: A Meta Analysis of the Italian Context
by Davide Marino, Antonio Barone, Angelo Marucci, Silvia Pili and Margherita Palmieri
Land 2023, 12(12), 2173; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12122173 - 16 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1538
Abstract
Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) are caused by several factors, including climate change, socio-demographic dynamics, human pressures and urban sprawl. These factors alter the structure and functionality of ecosystems and their capacity to provide ecosystem goods and services to society. [...] Read more.
Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) are caused by several factors, including climate change, socio-demographic dynamics, human pressures and urban sprawl. These factors alter the structure and functionality of ecosystems and their capacity to provide ecosystem goods and services to society. The study of LULC changes is important for understanding the dynamics of relationships between environmental, social and economic components and for analyzing the factors affecting natural capital. Including ecosystem services (ES) in spatial planning tools and sectoral policies is useful for improving governance. In this paper, the impact of LULC changes on ES provision has been estimated. To this end, we carried out a literature review (Step 1) to select the biophysical and economic coefficients of ES supply by land cover classes and collect them in a database (Step 2). We subsequently aggregated the economic and biophysical coefficients by macro classes (Step 3) and, using the benefit transfer approach, we estimated the change in the supply of ESs concerning permanence and transition phenomena in Italy from 1990 to 2018 (Step 4). The transition phenomena analysis also allowed us to evaluate the consequences of urbanization and urban green space governance on ES supply. Indeed, these urban green spaces can help reduce risks to people’s health and safety and mitigate the effects induced by climate change. In total, approximately 800 coefficients (biophysical and economic) of ESs supplied by Corine Land Cover classes were acquired. The results show a reduction in the annual supply of ecosystem services of EUR 927 million (2022) caused by LULC changes between 1990 and 2018. This research proposes a methodology to improve knowledge of ESs concerning anthropogenic impacts and to support land-use planning policies regarding Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development Goals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem Services and Urban Green Spaces: Planning, Policy Development and Governance Implications)
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21 pages, 4887 KiB  
Article
The Transition of Forest Cover and Its Cultural Values in Shrine/Temple Forests in the Mountainous and Foothill Areas of Kyoto City: A Study Based on Topographic Maps and Aerial Photos
by Tomomi Funahashi and Shozo Shibata
Land 2023, 12(12), 2096; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12122096 - 22 Nov 2023
Viewed by 794
Abstract
There is growing interest in the diverse roles of forests in addressing climate change and biodiversity goals. Recent studies have indicated a disregard for the cultural values of forests that have been formed in close association with human activities. This may potentially lead [...] Read more.
There is growing interest in the diverse roles of forests in addressing climate change and biodiversity goals. Recent studies have indicated a disregard for the cultural values of forests that have been formed in close association with human activities. This may potentially lead to the loss of cultural characteristics, traditional forest knowledge, and biodiversity. This study explores historical forest dynamics and their unique cultural values from the end of the 19th century in 15 shrine/temple forests located in the mountainous and foothill areas of Kyoto city. Using geographical information systems (GIS) based on topographic maps and aerial photographs, this study investigates the forest composition in the 1890s, 1980s, and from 2010. The results indicate that approximately half of the targeted shrine/temple forests were composed of low Pinus densiflora forests and coppice forests in the 1890s. Between the 1890s and 1910s, coniferous forests were planted in these areas with the intention of land conservation and timber production. This distinctive forest cover became a typical characteristic for shrine/temple forests until the 1980s. However, from the 1980s, a decrease in the cultural value of shrine/temple forests was observed due to the lack of human activities in these forests. As a result, the distinction between shrine/temple forests and the surrounding forests has become blurred. This could potentially cause the homogenization of cultural characteristics. This study aims to inform readers of the cultural value associated with the historical landscape and biodiversity found in shrine/temple forests. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem Services and Urban Green Spaces: Planning, Policy Development and Governance Implications)
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