Measurement of soil compaction tolerance of Lagestromia speciosa (L.) Pers. using chlorophyll fluorescence

Trees planted along roadsides and on public recreation areas are subjected to environmental stresses such as poor soil, air pollution and heat. However, very little information is available on the trees’ tolerance to the various stress factors faced in an urban environment in Malaysia, such as soil compaction. The effects of soil compaction on a range of chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (F₀,F_m,F_v/F_m) in foliar tissue of Lagestromia speciosa, a widely planted Malaysian street tree, were examined. Results showed that soil compaction was between 170 and 315 MPa in the study areas. Soil compaction above 180 MPa affected tree form and reduced chlorophyll fluorescence. It is concluded that chlorophyll fluorescence offers a rapid screening technique for assessing soil compaction tolerance of L. speciosa.     

Social effects on crowding preferences of urban forest visitors

An image-based stated choice approach was used to investigate the conditions determining why visitors to an urban forest in Vienna feel crowded or not. Respondents (N=213) evaluated several sets of images depicting trail use scenarios with different levels of social crowding conditions and several types of social interferences. Forest users were segmented into three groups based on their global evaluations of use levels during weekends and work days, resulting in a crowding-averse, a crowding-tolerant, and a crowding-indifferent segment. Crowding-averse respondents reacted much more negatively to scenarios with high-use levels, heterogeneous trail use conditions, and violations of personal minimum spatial requirements caused by the presence of others. This user group felt overcrowded because social conditions experienced in the area interfered with their main visiting goals, especially to walk with their dog unleashed and to recreate. By contrast, crowding-tolerant respondents disliked very low-use and high-use situations, and preferred a certain amount of social stimulation in the form of some encounters, and more heterogeneous trail use conditions.     

The potential of school green areas to improve urban green connectivity and multifunctionality

Urban green infrastructure supports resilience in cities and promotes sustainable resource management. Small green areas, including school green areas (SGAs), are an important component of urban green infrastructure, playing a key role in supplying cities with educational services. This article describes how SGAs can amplify an urban green area's connectivity and multifunctionality. The analysis was performed in Bucharest as a case study. A survey based on questionnaires was used to obtain data regarding green spaces within public schools. A total of 411 administrators from 461 public schools participated in the survey for a response rate of 89.1%. Information from the questionnaires was augmented with spatial data of SGAs and public green spaces, i.e., parks and city gardens. Using parametric and nonparametric statistical analysis, we first identified the variables that determine an SGA's presence and size. Potential connectivity assessment results showed that most of the schools that lack or have small-sized SGAs have the possibility to cover their green space deficit by developing activities within nearby public green spaces. A structural connectivity assessment of SGAs toward other public urban green areas revealed that SGAs are an important element of the urban environment by serving as stepping stones to species flow. The multifunctionality of the SGAs was emphasized through the educational services they provide, being involved in pupils’ daily activities. The increased connectivity and multifunctionality of urban green infrastructure through small, specialized green areas, such as SGAs, is an indicator of the fact that such areas can be used to ameliorate the deficit of green space in major urban areas.     

Benefits and well-being perceived by people visiting green spaces in periods of heat stress

In urban environments, green spaces have proven to act as ameliorating factors of some climatic features related to heat stress, reducing their effects and providing comfortable outdoor settings for people. In addition, green spaces have demonstrated greater capacity, compared with built-up areas, for promoting human health and well-being. In this paper, we present results of a study conducted in Italy and the UK with the general goal to contribute to the theoretical and empirical rationale for linking green spaces with well-being in urban environments. Specifically, the study focused on the physical and psychological benefits and the general well-being associated with the use of green spaces on people when heat stress episodes are more likely to occur. A questionnaire was set up and administered to users of selected green spaces in Italy and the UK (n=800). Results indicate that longer and frequent visits of green spaces generate significant improvements of the perceived benefits and well-being among users. These results are consistent with the idea that the use of green spaces could alleviate the perception of thermal discomfort during periods of heat stress.     

Landscape planning and stress

Stress and stress-related illnesses, as reflected in medical records, have increased dramatically among adults and children in Western societies. A growing part of the budget for medical service in Sweden is used for individuals suffering from different stress-related illnesses such as burnout syndrome, insomnia and fatigue, depression, feelings of panic, etc. In this paper, we present results from a study in which 953 randomly selected individuals in nine Swedish cities answered a questionnaire about their health and their use of different urban open green spaces in and close to the city.The results indicate that city landscape planning may affect the health of town-dwellers. Statistically significant relationships were found between the use of urban open green spaces and self-reported experiences of stress – regardless of the informant's age, sex and socio-economic status. The results suggest that the more often a person visits urban open green spaces, the less often he or she will report stress-related illnesses. The same pattern is shown when time spent per week in urban open green spaces is measured.The distance to public urban open green spaces seems to be of decisive importance, as is access to a garden, in the form of a private garden or a green yard immediately adjacent to, for instance, an apartment building. People do not usually compensate for lack of green environments in their own residential area with more visits to public parks or urban forests.According to our results, laying out more green areas close to apartment houses, and making these areas more accessible, could make for more restorative environments. Outdoor areas that provide environments free from demands and stress, and that are available as part of everyday life, could have significant positive effects on the health of town-dwellers in Sweden. This may also apply to other Western societies.     

Health-related elements in green space branding in Hong Kong

A green city image of urban green spaces can provide positive benefits such as a stronger local identity, better socio-cultural ecosystem services, and ultimately the creation of a green city brand that attracts tourism and investment. This paper studies how urban green spaces can become a green brand that encompasses health-related elements. The health-related elements form part of the Green Brand Hexagon (GBH), as proposed in previous studies, and are tested with a sample of Hong Kong citizens (n = 301). The empirical results confirm the interrelation between these attributes and other GBH elements. The interrelation reveals a moderate association between the health-related elements and other green brand elements through regression model formulation. The findings suggest an extension of the health promotion value of the green spaces to the brand elements, focusing on the quality and the landscape aesthetic function of urban green spaces. While the effort of the public sector is highly recognized by the citizens, there should be an opportunity to thematize and brand the green city attributes to the public so that some of the problems of environmental gentrification and socio-environmental disconnection can be alleviated.     

Urban Green infrastructures: How much did they affect property prices in Singapore?

In 2015, 17 Sustainable Development Goals were outlined within the 2030 Agenda by the United Nations. Objective 11.7 aims to provide universal access to safe, inclusive, and accessible green and public spaces, highlighting the strategic role of these areas in cities. In the international literature, the theory of Ecosystem Services (ESs) has been developed to raise public awareness of the need to preserve biodiversity, enhance community cohesion, civic identity, and quality of life. In this study, we explored the economic value of Singapore's Urban Green Infrastructures (UGI) by investigating the private condominium and apartment unit market through the Hedonic Pricing Method (HPM). The HPM was integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS) to spatialize housing units, measure the distance of different green spaces, and consider the dependence effects among housing unit transactions. The results highlighted a positive effect on values of the proximity to the natural green areas, as well as to the regional, city parks, and small nature areas. The annual benefits of UGIs on households within 800 m range from 10,305,275 USD for nature areas to 59,723,703 USD for the city parks and 74,011,689 USD for the regional parks. Estimates showed the small contribution of park connectors (PCN) and neighborhood parks. The HPM results are a useful aid to understanding the amenity value of UGIs. The modeling outcomes could be used to inform policymakers and municipal green managers about UGIs preservation and new allocation starting from households’ preferences.     

番茄绿果与红果颜色性状遗传的研究

以绿果番茄‘绿樱’和红果番茄‘TTD1003A’为亲本材料,构建4个世代P_1、P_2、F_1和F_2遗传群体,采用标准比色卡,对成熟果实的果色、果皮色、果肉色和胎座胶状物质颜色进行观察分析。结果表明:在F_2代分离群体中,果色分离比例为,红︰棕︰黄︰绿=9︰3︰3︰1;果皮色为,黄色︰透明=3︰1;果肉色为,红︰浅黄︰浅绿=12︰3︰1,即果色、果皮色和果肉色的遗传符合孟德尔遗传规律,且分别由两对、一对和两对核基因控制;果实绿色相对果实红色为隐性,果皮透明相对果皮黄色为隐性,果肉浅绿色相对果肉红色为隐性,果皮与果肉颜色独立遗传。同时,运用色差仪测定果实表面颜色的L值、a值和b值,计算色光值后,运用植物数量性状主基因+多基因遗传分析法分析得出:番茄果实绿色对红色的遗传可能符合两对加性—显性—上位性主基因+加性—显性多基因遗传(MX2-ADI-AD),其中两对主基因均以加性效应为主,第一对主基因的加性作用更为明显。在F_2代中,色差仪测定指标的主基因遗传率为76%~89%,而多基因遗传率接近0,即该组合控制果色性状的主基因遗传力很高,多基因遗传力很低,对番茄果色的选择应在分离早期世代进行。     

Planning small for winning big: Small urban green space distribution patterns in an expanding city

While major urban areas are expanding, becoming more crowded, vegetated lands areshrinking. Built-up densification limits the planning of large urban green spaces,depriving urban dwellers of the benefits provided by such structures. In this context,small public urban green spaces (SPUGS) become of high value for urban landscapes,and their distribution throughout the city should aim to compensate the lack of largergreen areas. The driving forces of SPUGS distribution may be linked to the urbanfunctions they are usually paired with.The current study aimed to determine which are the urban functions that benefit ofhigher amounts of SPUGS in their proximities and to map the distribution and densityof SPUGS within Bucharest, helping us expose the green deprived communities.Results revealed that multi-dwelling residential areas are the ones with higher share ofSPUGS within walking distance. Nevertheless, analysis on SPUGS deprivation withinthe city showed that communist planned residential neighbourhoods are greener thanthe ones developed in the past three decades. Healthcare and commercial functionswithin the city recorded smaller shares of SPUGS in their proximity, highlighting thatvulnerable groups (such as ill people) are exposed to less vegetation, and that publicplanning documents are not encouraging developers to allocate more land for greenfeature development.These results are relevant for projecting the quality of outdoor environmentsthroughout Romania’s capital and for assessing potential future managementchallenges. The outcomes of this research provide local policy makers and plannerswith the vulnerable areas in which immediate action for expanding the greeninfrastructures should take place. At the same time, the methodological approachdescribed in the study proved to be efficient in assessing the distribution of SPUGSthroughout the city and the determinants of this distribution. It can be easily replicatedin other cities by scholars and planners.     

The influence of bird information,attitudes, and demographics on public preferences toward urban green spaces: The case of Montpellier,France

Urban sprawl is a major driving force of land use change. To develop strategies for sustainable urban development, planners need suitable indicators, one of which is the quality and quantity of green spaces in a city. To implement conservation strategies for urban areas, an assessment of how people perceive green spaces is required. The aim of this paper is to analyze: (1) willingness to contribute financially to two types of urban green spaces, (2) how people's attitudinal and socio-economic characteristics affect this willingness, and (3) to what extent this willingness is affected by the information that green spaces are important for avifauna conservation. We found that 72% of the respondents in Montpellier, France preferred natural (versus ornamental) green spaces and wanted them to be increased in the city. To achieve this, 52% of the respondents were willing to pay a percentage of their monthly household income. Giving information about birds to residents increased their preferences (especially for those having a “favourable” attitude for urban fauna) for “natural” green spaces and increased willingness to pay for green spaces among people using green spaces at least monthly. For people less concerned about nature, there was no such effect of providing bird information on preferences for green spaces.     

Attitude and willingness toward participation in decision-making of urban green spaces in China

Urban green spaces serve a variety of residents with various perceptions, preferences and demands. Their effective governance and precision provision increasingly require public input. Due to the unique political regime, public decision-making in China has long been controlled by governments with the public neglected. With increasing civic consciousness in recent years in urban China, this research investigated attitudes and willingness toward participation in planning, management and design of urban green spaces in Guangzhou. Face-to-face questionnaire surveys were conducted at the 24 green sites across the city with 595 respondents successfully interviewed. The results demonstrated the positive attitudes and strong willingness toward participation despite socioeconomic variations, fitting into a global trend of increasing civic consciousness and strengthening the theoretical base of public participation. Practically, the positive findings lay a sound social foundation for the participatory decision-making in urban China, and help to drive local governments more open and inclusive and develop effective governance strategies and mechanisms to promote public participation in decision-making of urban green spaces.     

Challenges of urban green space management in the face of using inadequate data

Effective urban planning, and urban green space management in particular, require proper data on urban green spaces. The potential of urban green spaces to provide benefits to urban inhabitants (ecosystem services) depends on whether they are managed as a comprehensive system of urban green infrastructure, or as isolated islands falling under the responsibility of different stakeholders. Meanwhile, different urban green space datasets are based on different definitions, data sources, sampling techniques, time periods and scales, which poses important challenges to urban green infrastructure planning, management and research. Using the case study of Lodz, the third largest city in Poland, and an additional analysis of 17 other Polish cities, we compare data from five publicly available sources: 1) public statistics, 2) the national land surveying agency, 3) satellite imagery (Landsat data), 4) the Urban Atlas, 5) the Open Street Map. The results reveal large differences in the total amount of urban green spaces in the cities as depicted in different datasets. In Lodz, the narrowly interpreted public statistics data, which are aspatial, suggest that green spaces account for only 12.8% of city area, while the most comprehensive dataset from the national land surveying agency reveals the figure of 61.2%. The former dataset, which excludes many types of green spaces (such as arable land, private and informal green spaces), is still the most commonly used. The analysis of the 17 other cities confirms the same pattern. This results in broader institutional failures related to urban green infrastructure planning, management, and research, including a lack of awareness of green space quality (e.g. connectivity) and benefits (ecosystem services), and the related political disregard for urban green spaces. Our comparison suggests that a better understanding of green space data sources is necessary in urban planning, and especially when planning urban green infrastructure.     

Assessment of joint soil ecosystem services supply in urban green spaces: A case study in Northern Italy

The multiple functions of urban soils secure the supply of ecosystem services to the urban population, but they are seldom taken into account in current urban planning. The purpose of this study is to highlight the multifunctionality of the soils of urban green spaces and to assess the influence of different types of urban green (i.e. parks and gardens, roadside green and agricultural fields) on the joint supply of soil-based ecosystem services. In a case study area in the city of Carpi (NE Italy), we focused on a set of soil functions underpinning ecosystem services and on possible synergies and trade-offs between them. We surveyed and sampled 19 urban green areas to assess the following soil functions: biological fertility, potential habitat for organisms, water regulation and storage, soil buffering capacity and carbon stock. Results showed differences and trends in the bundles of ecosystem services provided by the soils of urban green areas, highlighting the relevance of soil disturbance and vegetation cover density in affecting soil functions. For biological indicators, results showed a negative significant correlation to CaCO₃ content, which is associated with the degree of soil disturbance, and that soils in urban areas do not always have compromised soil fauna and may provide the same level of biological quality as agricultural soils or forests.     

Optimizing urban green space patterns to improve spatial equity using location-allocation model: A case study in Wuhan

Green space allocation aims to support the UNs sustainable development goals (SDGs) and to mitigate the conflicts between supply and demand. Previous studies have shown that the uneven distribution of populations and natural locations of green space results in environmental inequity. However, there is still a lack of knowledge on strategies for reducing mismatches of supply and demand by optimizing spatial patterns in highly dense cities. Developed urbanized areas are featured in fewer spaces for greening. In this study, we set three scenarios for coordinating the provision and demand of urban green spaces at a block scale. Taking the main city of Wuhan as an example, we apply the location-allocation model in order to identify potential sites for new green spaces. Then, the simulations of the three scenarios are used to depict various development strategies by evaluating the improvement of green equity. Our results show that the levels of green space accessibility are lower on the west side of the city center, while relatively higher on the east side, due to abundant natural resources. The Gini coefficient is 0.715, indicating unequal access for citizens to green space. Increasing green areas could enhance green equity, and the most effective way to allocate new increments is based on the accessibility. For developed cities, blocks with lower accessibility should be given priority when increasing green areas; doing so could offset the shortage of large green areas and reduce green inequity within daily walking distances. Optimal green space planning of small and functional parks near communities has the potential to meet higher recreational demands in densely populated areas.     

Citizens’ use of public urban green spaces at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy

Since early 2020, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly, quickly becoming a global pandemic. To counter the COVID-19 outbreak, national governments have issued different measures and restrictions, forcing citizens to adapt to a whole new lifestyle. These restrictions have impacted on the use of green spaces by citizens owing to many factors: more available free time, increased flexibility in the work environment, and a need to relax in Nature to relieve anxiety and stress. Urban green spaces provide many benefits for the physical and psychological well-being of citizens (e.g., habitat conservation, pollution control, recreational and leisure opportunities). To understand if citizens’ habits have changed due to the COVID-19 restrictions, this study provides insights from a web-based survey monitoring the use of such spaces before and during the COVID-19 lockdowns in Italy. A web-based questionnaire was conducted via “Facebook Messenger” and “WhatsApp” at the end of the second wave of COVID-19 (May–June 2021). Data collection having been concluded, 1075 completed questionnaires were collected and processed. The results show that while many reduced their weekly frequentation of green areas (−16.5%), the number of people frequenting green areas near their home every day increased (+7.7%). Two main groups of people were identified: the first, those who intensified their visits to green areas being those who desired to spend time in contact with Nature; the second, those who were reluctant to visit green areas for fear of being infected. The results also show most of the respondents felt urban green areas were either very important (82.1%) or important (14.4%). Overall, the results reveal that COVID-19 induced a positive perception of the benefits provided by urban green areas, with a consequent greater use of them, which seems destined to last even once the public health emergency has passed.     

Characterizing green and gray space exposure for epidemiological studies: Moving from 2D to 3D indicators

The presence of green spaces has been associated with improved physical health and better mental health and wellbeing. In contrast, the presence of gray features including build-up areas might have a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of citizens. To date, the available evidence on the health effects of green and gray spaces have mainly relied on 2-dimensional (2D) indicators of these spaces such as land use maps or, more recently, satellite derived indices (e.g., green space indices such as normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) or gray space indices such as imperviousness). Although they are acceptable proxies of these exposures, 2D indicators could have inaccuracies when characterizing diverse set of vegetation types in combination with different types of gray spaces, which is typical of urban environments. To overcome this gap, we developed a set of three-dimensional (3D) indicators derived mainly from airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) acquired in 2008 and 2010 over the metropolitan area of Rome (Italy). In particular, we extracted volume of green features such as shrubs and trees (Green volume [m3/ha]), volume of buildings (Gray volume[m3/ha]), a novel index called Normalized Difference Green-Gray Volume index (NDGG) as well as indicators of the tree count. We compared the 3D indicators with two widely used 2D indicators for characterizing green and gray spaces (i.e., NDVI and imperviousness) in different buffers around 79140 address points in the city. For the green indicators, we found that the Pearson correlations between NDVI and Green Volume were 0.47 (50 m buffer) and 0.33 (300 m buffer) while the correlations between NDVI and number of trees were 0.56 (50 m buffer) and 0.58 (300 m buffer). For gray indicators, the correlations between imperviousness and gray volume were 0.62 (50 m buffer) and 0.79 (300 m buffer). For NDGG, the correlations were higher with both NDVI (0.76 and 0.83 for 50 m and 300 m buffers) and imperviousness (−0.75 and −0.83 for 50 m and 300 m buffers). Our results showed that the use of 3D indicators can have potential benefits, especially regarding green features which can be highly heterogeneous in complex urban landscapes such as the city of Rome.     

The effects of naturalness,gender, and age on how urban green space is perceived and used

Neighbourhood green space serves an important function for the urban population, and provides valuable ecosystem services for human well-being. In this article, we investigate the effects of naturalness, gender, and age on the activities, aesthetics, and self-reported well-being associated with urban green space. Our findings are based on a postal survey of residents living in close proximity to six different green spaces in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. It is shown that higher perceived naturalness generated more activities and higher aesthetic values and self-reported well-being for residents living close to urban green spaces. The results also indicated that, regardless of the type of naturalness, women were more active in urban green spaces than were men. Women also saw greater aesthetic value in green spaces than men did, and had higher self-reported well-being associated with the urban green spaces. Finally, older residents were shown to participate in a greater number of nature-related activities than younger residents. Older residents also saw greater aesthetic values and had higher self-reported well-being associated with urban green spaces than younger people did. Seemingly, this poses a considerable planning challenge if areas of perceived naturalness are to be retained in cities, since the present trend is for reduced green spaces in cities and a ‘parkification’ of surviving natural areas. Further, because of the importance of perceived natural areas to the elderly, and in particularly women, distances to urban green areas should not be too great.     

Emotional perceptions of people exposed to green and blue spaces in forest parks of cities at rapid urbanization regions of East China

Urbanization modifies the landscape with green and blue spaces (GBS), which further leads to a functional change along an urban-rural gradient. Emotional improvement is a critical service of GBS, which may be perceived and exposed through facial expressions by visitors. How people react, however, may vary at different locations of a city at varied phases of urbanization. In this study, happy and sad emotions were rated as scores from 7965 Sina-Weibo users who visited 77 GBS across 49 cities of East China in 2020. GBS were located in different regions of a city, either near downtown or in more rural-like regions. Compared to cities near the Hu Huanyong line, those along the eastern coast were built with parks that had smaller green spaces at lower elevations in locations near downtown. They also had larger blue spaces in parks at suburban areas of the same cities. People expressed more happiness in GBS in regions closer to remote rural regions, or in cities further from the eastern coast. Larger green spaces were associated with by the presentation more smiles in parks near downtown, while experiences in large blue spaces evoked positive emotions at suburban areas. Overall, GBS in population-dense regions of more developed cities can be perceived as an activation of exposing higher depression by visitors. More smiles can be exposed in GBS with a large green space near downtown, or with a large blue space at suburban regions of a city in East China.     

Combining the preferences of residents for neighborhood green spaces and conservation of avian diversity: Case study from Beijing

Cities in China support higher human population densities compared to those in western countries; consequently, the high pressure placed on cultural ecosystem services (CES) provision of residential green spaces might hinder overall human wellbeing and the maintenance of avian diversity. Thus, this study aimed to identify how to meet the main preferences of citizens for residential green spaces while simultaneously enhancing bird diversity in city neighborhoods, generating a win-win scenario for human needs and biodiversity. This study was implemented using 568 questionnaires for residents and GLMM for bird-environment statistical analyses. Residents in Beijing preferred higher levels of bird species richness than individual abundance in neighborhoods. Residential green space appeared to serve as the movement corridor for some rare species, indicating the importance of promoting the presence of migrant bird guilds, which is currently incidental. The cultivation of fruit-bearing shrubby plants was supported by most city residents, and would also promote the presence of migratory birds in green spaces. In contrast, while increasing the width of residential green spaces would benefit migratory birds, it had less public support. This multi-disciplinary study clearly demonstrated that both the quality of life of humans in cities and biodiversity conservation could be efficiently incorporated in green space plans, even under highly urbanized circumstances.     

无籽西瓜新品种新优43号的选育

新优43号是以经秋水仙碱诱变加倍选育的四倍体自交系91-4.4x为母本、以自交系121-01为父本配制而成的无籽西瓜新品种。中晚熟，全生育期89 d（天），果实发育期34 d（天），主蔓第 8~10节现第1雌花，平均坐果节位第16节。果实圆形，果皮深绿色覆墨绿色齿条带，瓤大红色，肉质细脆多汁，中心糖含量11 %左右，中边梯度小。单瓜质量3~6 kg，每667 m²产量3 000 kg左右，适宜新疆、河南及广西地区种植。