Urban green spaces and sustainability: Exploring the ecosystem services and disservices of grassy lawns versus floral meadows

Urban green spaces provide important ecological, environmental, and cultural benefits, including biodiversity conservation and human wellbeing. However, a significant portion of urban green space is currently managed as highly manicured grassy lawns that provide limited ecosystem services. Managing urban green spaces as diverse meadows can have a multitude of ecosystem benefits such as biodiversity conservation, stormwater infiltration, and aesthetics. Relatively little is known about the range of ecosystem services or disservices in managing urban green spaces as lawns versus meadows. In this paper, we separately characterize three major categories of ecosystem services and disservices (provisioning, regulation and maintenance, and cultural) delivered by urban lawns and meadows while highlighting several trade-offs and synergies associated with urban lawn and meadow management strategies. Additionally, we suggest specific research priorities to better evaluate ecosystem services and disservices across these urban green spaces. Understanding ecological, environmental, and cultural trade-offs and synergies of managing different urban green spaces is key to maintaining multiple ecosystem services in urban environments.     

A balancing act: Biodiversity and human wellbeing considerations in the management of urban forest in a global biodiversity hotspot

Environmental and urban forest managers in cities located in highly biodiverse regions may need to balance biodiversity conservation with the provision of ecosystem services to people. However, striking this balance is not easy and many competing factors influence the decision-making process. Set in the Perth Metropolitan Area, located in the global biodiversity hotspot of the Southwestern Australia Floristic Province, this study aimed to understand: (i) the extent to which a benefits-oriented approach is used by local governments to optimise biodiversity and human wellbeing urban forest outcomes, and (ii) what other factors influence the decision-making process shaping urban forest composition. Using a social-ecological framework, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 29 local government practitioners. We found that biodiversity conservation is actively considered in the planning and management of urban forest in natural areas and parks, but rarely in streetscapes. Maximising shade and cooling, and to a lesser extent enhancing sense of place, were the key benefits actively sought in streetscapes. Parks appeared to straddle the middle ground as areas with most flexibility to accommodate multiple biodiversity and human wellbeing benefits. Yet, benefits were only some of a multitude of social-ecological factors influencing the decision-making process shaping urban forest composition. In particular, streetscapes were affected by a large number of social and political factors (e.g., perceived risk and nuisance, ad-hoc decisions by elected members), many of them leading to suboptimal urban forest outcomes. For a benefits-oriented approach to prevail in complex and contested urban spaces it is important that the decision-making process is evidence-informed and capable of handling the challenges and conflicts that are likely to arise. Reactive decision-making results in a conservative, “safe” species palette that over time defines streetscapes by what they do not do (creating disservices) rather than what they do (delivering multiple biodiversity and wellbeing benefits), which ultimately is not a desired outcome in the context of an increasingly urbanized world.     

Exploring public preferences and preference heterogeneity for green and blue infrastructure in urban green spaces

Green and blue urban infrastructure (GBI) has many positive functions often not recognised by residents (e.g., microclimate regulation, water retention, etc.). The question for urban planners who are aware of these functions when planning new GBI elements or revitalising existing GBI is how much they need to account for the preference heterogeneity of locals, who typically consider only aesthetic and recreational value. This study uses data from a discrete choice experiment among residents of the medium-sized Czech city of Liberec to reveal which combinations of nature-based or semi-natural GBI and recreational facilities respondents prefer and how strong their preferences are in terms of their willingness to pay. Overall, study respondents preferred nature-based GBI to semi-natural ones. A mixed-latent class model identified two groups of respondents who differ in preferences, trade-offs, and socio-demographic characteristics: (i) mostly older educated women who prefer nature-based elements and enjoy park infrastructure; (ii) mostly less educated men who dislike urban gardens and semi-natural streams and do not value park infrastructure. Based on the results, we recommend that spatial planners and green space managers design and implement more nature-based elements in Liberec, which are in line with the respondents’ preferences.     

Communication between science, policy and citizens in public participation in urban forestry—Experiences from the Neighbourwoods project

The demand for sound scientific information and public participation is particularly great in urban forestry. Urban society's manifold perceptions, preferences and demands for urban forest goods and services need to be considered, indicating the necessity for socially inclusive planning processes. Successful policies can only be formulated by establishing close links with, for example, urban planning and municipal policies. Inherently, this means that close ties between research and policy are required. This article discusses the outcomes of the NeighbourWoods research and development project in which a wide range of tools for public participation were tested in six urban woodland case-studies across Europe. A distinction was made between characteristics of the specific participatory tools and those of the communication process between the facilitators (scientists) of the participation process and the end-users of information (local policy-makers). Public willingness to participate depends on factors such as existing controversy, emotions attached to the forest, and perceived dangers, e.g., in terms of threats to the status quo. Policy makers’ willingness to involve themselves depends on political interests, on prior experience with public participation processes, and on their trust in the facilitators of the public participation process. Findings confirm that a set of tools comprising a step-wise process from informing the public in an attractive way, collecting information on public opinion, towards fully participatory approaches such as direct involvement in decision-making is most likely to ensure socially inclusive planning. Communication with policy-makers requires a high degree of openness, clearly explaining every phase of the process, being open about each other's expectations, in short, by developing relationships based on mutual trust.     

The role of green spaces and their management in a child-friendly urban village

Environmental child-friendliness is affected by how built environments and green spaces are planned and designed, but also by their ongoing management, including both development and maintenance. This study examined children’s perspectives on their local environments with focus on green spaces and their management in an urban village. Five groups totalling 16 children aged 10–11 were interviewed through child-led walks. Both the qualities of the village as a whole and of specific places within it added to the child-friendliness of the local environment. The children showed planned and managed spaces including playgrounds and parks, and unmanaged places such as abandoned gardens. They found many qualities in multifunctional planned places with a varied, rich content. In unmanaged areas the lack of management was seen as positive for exploration, play possibilities and for the place to be children’s own. The findings suggest that children’s perspectives can play an important role not only in planning and design, but also in the ongoing process of landscape management, including the provision of more variation in local green spaces.     

Responses of four hornet species to levels of urban greenness in Nagoya city,Japan: Implications for ecosystem disservices of urban green spaces

Although there is a common trend towards increasing green space in modern cities, urban green spaces provide not only ecosystem services but also disservices for urban dwellers. However, the relationship between urban greenness and ecosystem disservices has been poorly examined. We aimed to understand the effect of greenness level on the abundance and species composition of hornets – critical pests in Japan and to identify the best spatial scale for estimating their abundance with reference to greenness levels. We used a dataset that contained eight years of abundance data for four hornet species at 11 sites in Nagoya city. The levels of greenness around the hornet sampling points were measured using averages from the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) with radiuses of 0.1–10.0 km. We analysed the relationship between abundance and species composition of hornets and NDVI at different spatial scales using generalized linear mixed models. Higher NDVI values positively affected the abundance of all the hornet species except Vespa analis. The abundances were estimated most effectively using the NDVI average with a 1–2 km radius for all species. The species composition of hornets drastically changed along the gradient of NDVI values; V. mandarinia was dominant in greener areas (over 0.2–0.3 NDVI average with a 2 km radius) and V. analis in less green areas (below 0.2–0.3 NDVI average). Our study showed that the abundance and species composition of hornets were both strongly associated with the level of urban greenness. This suggests that increases in the greenness of urban areas can increase hornet abundance and alter the species composition of hornets; a more aggressive species, V. mandarinia, may also increase in urban areas, although V. analis is currently the most critical species according to regional consultants. Balancing ecosystem services and disservices has become crucial for the planning and management of green spaces, particularly when urban green space increases. We also demonstrate how human tolerance towards wildlife may have to be improved in order to live in greener environment where wildlife can be expected.     

Promoting urban greening: Valuing the development of green infrastructure investments in the urban core of Manchester,UK

The attribution of economic value to landscape resources is fraught with technical and methodological difficulties. Little is mandated in UK planning policy explaining how economic value should be established. As a result landscape resources have been undervalued, underfunded and marginalised in favour of larger grey infrastructure development. The UK NEA however outlined for the first time a national scale economic evaluation of environmental resources. The Valuing Attractive Landscapes in the Urban Economy (VALUE) Interreg IVB project examined this issue by establishing a toolkit of economic evaluation methodologies for green investments across North-West Europe. Focussing on the returns that investments in green infrastructure can deliver to cities and city-regions, the VALUE project identified economic values that can be used to influence future policy-making. This paper presents an analysis of VALUE street tree investments in Manchester, UK. Using a contingent valuation survey preferences for green investments and associated willingness to pay (WTP) for them were generated. Analysis suggests that willingness to pay is directly related to the size and greenness of the proposed investment and participant perceptions of added value. 75% of respondents were WTP for investments in green infrastructure. Analysis indicates increased WTP and a marked preference for larger and physically greener investments. Payment values ranged from £1.46 to 2.33, a 59.5% variance, between the preferred investment option and the status quo. The paper concludes that although green investments vary in size and function, respondents consider the specific and wider value of green infrastructure resources when asked how much they willing to pay to fund and maintain such investments.     

Greening cities through urban planning: A literature review on the uptake of concepts and methods in Stockholm

Nature-based solutions (NBS) represent the most recent of several "greening" concepts proposed to support spatial planning and decision-making towards sustainable metropolitan regions. Despite similarities, the concepts stem from different disciplines and policy arenas and reflect various models of people-nature relations. This paper aims to analyze the uptake of greening concepts in scientific planning literature focusing on (urban) nature and landscape in the metropolitan region of Stockholm, Sweden, over the last three decades. It investigates what changes this evolution has brought in terms of the topics adopted, methods applied, and types of planning support put into practice. We identified 574 articles that reflect substantial research on greening concepts in the Swedish planning context. The articles demonstrate an initial prevalence of biodiversity with later increases of interest in ecosystem services and NBS. A detailed analysis of the studies focusing on Stockholm revealed Population growth/densification, Green space management and Biodiversity conservation as the most commonly addressed societal challenges. The most frequently mentioned type of green and blue element is Parks and (semi-)natural urban green areas, including urban forests. Methods applied were mostly quantitative, while mixes with qualitative approaches were only apparent in ecosystem services articles. Half of the studies involved practitioners or decision-makers, but only four seemed related to real-life planning processes. Taken together, the influence of scientific literature on the uptake of greening concepts in spatial planning seems to have been limited. Future mainstreaming of greening concepts in Stockholm and beyond could benefit from available data, methods and experiences, but will require more active translation and boundary management. Further research into science-policy-planning interfaces at city scale is thus imperative to advance more sustainable pathways for people and nature in metropolitan regions.     

Effects of vegetation structure and environmental characteristics on pollinator diversity in urban green spaces

With accelerating urbanization, insect pollinators in urban ecosystems face challenges such as reduced pollen sources, habitat fragmentation, and damage to the nesting environment. Urban green spaces (UGS) are essential for the stability of pollinator communities. However, little is known about the relationship between vertical layer heterogeneity and horizontal layer complexity of vegetation structure in UGS and pollinator communities. The present study aimed to assess how vegetation structure and environmental characteristics shape the insect pollinator community in UGS. To this end, this study was conducted with seven typical vegetation types which were selected according to the biotope mapping classification system (BMCS) in the ring parks around Hefei City, in Anhui province, China. A total of 11,401 pollinators belonging to 6 orders and 34 families were identified during the eight-month survey. Among the seven habitats under the BMCS, mainly successional short-cut shrub and partly open green space, trees two- or multi-layered broad-leaved mixed forest and partly closed green space, and mainly successional tall grass and partly open green space were identified as high-quality insect pollinator habitats. According to the results of the generalized linear regression, the explanatory power of the four best-fitting generalised linear models is relatively high (over 77%). In four optimal models, the effect of vegetation structure on pollinator community was greater than that of environmental characteristics. The redundancy discriminant analysis showed that the flowering abundance of nectar plants, herb richness, and shrub coverage rate were the three most important factors influencing insect pollinator communities, with a cumulative explanatory power of up to 78.8%. Pollinator abundance was positively influenced by spontaneous herbs and low-intensity management. However, high-intensity management, low diversity of plants, low nectar plant richness, ignoring seasonal nectar plant configuration, and dense tree distribution could limit pollinator reproduction and population growth. These results reflect the status of insect pollinator community in UGS in Hefei city and present a possible direction for improving urban green habitats and plant configurations.     

The relationship between urban green space and social health of individuals: A scoping review

Urban green space is an important resource to effectively improve the urban environment and human health. A growing body of evidence highlights their positive impact on physical, mental and social health. Less focus has been paid to the social health benefits of urban green space. Designing urban green space to improve the social health of various groups has become a crucial problem, given the lack of uniformity in defining and measuring social health, as well as the varying social health needs of different individuals. This review aims to explore the relationship between urban green space and social health of individuals, which is defined as how one gets along with other people, how other people react to him/her, and how one reacts with the social institutions and societal mores. According to the PRISMA extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines, 60 articles published between 1998 and 2022 met the inclusion criteria were reviewed. The results demonstrated that different types of urban green space significantly influenced the social health of individuals. The dimensions of social health of individuals based on urban green space could be divided into four groups: social contacts, social relations, social support and social connections, which were mainly affected by the physical characteristics, perceptions, and usages of urban green space to varying degrees. Socio-demographic characteristics could moderate the strength and orientation of the relationship between urban green space and social health of individuals. As the first scoping review to analyze the relationship between urban green space and individual social health, this study not only provides evidence for the social health benefits of urban green space, but also offers information and tools for future research and policymakers.     

Benches,fountains and trees: Using mixed-methods with questionnaire and smartphone data to design urban green spaces

Smartphones can help researchers track how people use green spaces and understand how design features impact their behaviors. However, when using this data to evaluate green space designs, researchers should be aware of human perceptions of the features within these environments. We contribute a mixed method approach that allows for comparison between how people report using green space features intended to support wellbeing, with how often they are used in common daily routines. As an illustration of this approach, we present the results of a case study conducted on a university campus that compares how outdoor design features are used by students with how these features are reported as being used. Specifically, we compare perceptions of 362 students about which campus design features create a sense of wellbeing, and which are near locations they report using, with the use of these features recorded by the smartphones of a separate group of 62 students. We found that there were large differences between locations students reported using, and locations tracked students used regularly. Features that were used more often during daily routines (low walls, food retail outlets), did not match features reported as helping create a sense of wellbeing in the questionnaire (benches, trees, and sunshine). Of all the design features we modeled, only water features were positively associated with use in the tracking data and supportive of wellbeing in the questionnaire data. Our findings point to the importance of using tracking data together with response data from questionnaires in mixed-method studies if designers want to locate features that the public consider as supportive to their wellbeing, in locations that will be regularly used.     

Spatial sorting,attitudes and the use of green space in Brussels

Extensive evidence exists on the benefits provided by urban green space (UGS) but evidence is lacking about whether and how socio-economic benefits accrue to all residents or disproportionally depending on their socio-economic status or residential location. We model joint effects of socio-economic and locational attributes on attitudes and use of UGS in Brussels (BE). The analysis is based on a survey conducted along an urban–suburban continuum with respondents sampled across non-park public space. Patterns of use are depicted by the frequency and the distance travelled to the most used UGS. Attitudes are analyzed along three dimensions: willingness to (i) pay for UGS, (ii) trade off housing for green space and (iii) substitute private for public green. Our results stress the importance of separating effects of attitudes from socio-economic and locational effects to quantify UGS use, and suggest endogenous effects of green space with residential sorting.     

Barriers to the effective planning and management of residential encroachment within urban forest edges: A Southern Ontario,Canada case study

Studies document degradation and loss of publicly owned urban woodland area following adjacent residential development due to residential encroachment. Residential encroachment is the negative impacts of housing land uses within both rural and urban green infrastructure networks. Prevailing planning, design and management approaches in Southern Ontario municipalities in Canada indicate planning and management tools have been developed to remove and impede encroachment impacts; however, many are infrequently implemented. This lack of implementation contributes to a high prevalence and spatial area of encroachment within Southern Ontario municipal woodland edges with adjacent housing. Long interviews were conducted with the planners, landscape architects, woodland managers and bylaw enforcement staff of six Southern Ontario municipalities to determine the barriers to implementation of municipal encroachment tools. Results indicate key barriers to policy implementation that reflect a lack of awareness of, and priority placed on addressing, residential encroachment impacts, and impacts following the point of development in general. Barriers include: (1) insufficient community and municipal access to information regarding residential encroachment and their significance relative to other development impacts; (2) lack of clarity of goals by municipalities and between departments; (3) insufficient municipal leadership and commitment to limiting encroachment; (4) lack of sufficient means within municipal departments to prevent and address encroachment; and (5) ineffectual dynamics of enforcement. Recommendations for overcoming barriers to the development and implementation of effective approaches for addressing encroachment are provided.     

Estimating the willingness to pay for green space services in Shanghai: Implications for social equity in urban China

The willingness to pay can be considered as the fiscal dimension of equity in a planning context. The common solution in most western countries for such fiscal inequity is to apply taxation to rebalance; however, there is no equivalent tax category in China, where residential segregation has already occurred and intensified. This paper re-examines the traditional economic aspects of urban green space in relation to size, type and proximity level, and questions whether green fiscal equity appeared in China by exploring how homebuyers in different price ranges value green space services. Specifically, this paper uses the empirical case of Shanghai, China, to test the hypothesis via the quantile hedonic approach. The results show that people at the lowest percentile level paid a higher value for accessing urban public goods than people at the higher income percentiles, and that wealthy people prefer to purchase green space services privately. These results indicate that the traditional social equity problem may not appear in the Chines context, instead urban China’s problem with social quity may be more related to the privatisation of green space provision, which is only accessible to homeowners and the resulting decline of public green space developments, which primarily affects low-income renters.     

Engagement,representation, and safety: Factors promoting belonging and positive interracial contact in urban parks

Urban parks have been touted as spaces of diversity and democracy that have the potential to foster interracial contact among racially and ethnically diverse visitors. However, the extent to which they facilitate interracial contact and the factors related to contact are less understood. Using a quantitative panel study of racially and ethnically diverse U.S. urban residents (n = 931), this study investigated the influence of community diversity, motivations to visit parks, perceived engagement and representation, safety, and sense of welcome and belonging on interracial contact in urban parks. Results demonstrated more frequent and positive interracial contact when individuals perceived a greater sense of welcome and belonging and when they perceived more equitable engagement and representation. These results suggest that urban park agencies seeking to increase sense of welcome and belonging or frequency of positive interracial contact should focus on engagement and representation (as reflected through inclusive programs and events, input in decision making, and representation of racial and ethnic diversity) and safety.     

Urban greenspace access,uses, and values: A case study of user perceptions in metropolitan ravine parks

Urban greenspaces provide critical ecosystem services to urban area residents. While urban greenspaces provide a range of ecosystem services, cultural ecosystem services may be the most prominent to residents. Cultural ecosystem services provide benefits through educational, recreational, social, and spiritual opportunities. More knowledge is required about greenspace users’ perspectives of their local greenspaces, which will enrich park planners’ knowledge of the preferences, concerns, and potential points of conflict that greenspace users experience. To help increase this knowledge, we conducted a survey with closed and open-ended questions and supported it with a park audit and photographic evidence. As a case study, data were collected in six ravine parks in the City of Toronto, Canada. Ravine parks were of particular interest as they are a unique form of socio-ecological greenspace that have varied management goals which on occasion may differ from some user preferences and values. Quantitative data were analyzed with analysis of variance and chi-square tests of independence, and qualitative data were analyzed with conventional qualitative content analysis. Our results highlight that current ravine park users vary widely in their characteristics and the values they pursue through their park access. While the range of ravine park types accommodates some of this variability, there is also conflict between ravine park users with different values and expectations. We are offering a series of recommendations addressing these findings and hope that insights from this deep and rich case study will be of use to other forested, urban greenspaces under similar conditions.     

Perceptions and representations of biodiversity in Lausanne,Switzerland: Acknowledging the importance of residential environments

While the ecological mechanisms involved in biodiversity loss within urban environments are widely studied, the literature often overlooks its social-ecological drivers. One of these drivers is the relationship between perceptions and representations of ecosystems and species within specific residential contexts. This study therefore aims to address the following questions: how do residents perceive biodiversity in relation to their social representation of nature within specific residential environments? Are there differences in the social representation and perception of greenspace types and species based on residents' demographic attributes (gender and age) and characteristics of their place of residence (district and housing types)? Through a quantitative survey and the analysis of 148 responses from Lausanne residents using textometry, cartography, and inferential statistics, this research demonstrates two main findings. Firstly, it confirms that the perception of species remains limited, which aligns with previous scholarly work. Secondly, it reveals that the social representations of nature and biodiversity can either correlate with or be disconnected from the perceptual process at the ecosystem level, depending on the residents' living environments. The impact of residential environments on biodiversity perception and representations is discussed, along with the implications of iconic biodiversity traps for raising public awareness about biodiversity preservation in cities.     

COVID-19 pandemic changes the recreational use of Moscow parks in space and time: Outcomes from crowd-sourcing and machine learning

The limited access to urban green spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the human-nature interaction in cities and human well-being. Number of visitors to green areas, initially declined due to imposed restrictions, was restored after they were lifted as established by several studies across the globe However, little is still known about changes in behavior and preferences of park visitors in the post-COVID time. In this study, we investigated spatial-temporal patterns of recreational activities in the three urban parks in Moscow (Russia) prior, during and after the COVID-19 lockdown (in 2019 and 2020). The selected parks represent two different types: a centrally located park with much infrastructure and open landscapes (Gorky Park) and parks located at the outskirts of the city center with a more forested landscape and little infrastructure (Timiryazevski and Sokolniki parks). Recreational activities were identified based on the analysis of social media photos using machine-learning algorithms. As expected, park closures during lockdown resulted in overall decrease in the number of taken photos. After the parks were re-opened, however, the number of photos did not grow immediately. The number of photos only restored after almost three months, and the visiting peak shifted to autumn. Differences between parks were related to the type of the park and its landscape structure. The lowest decrease in the number of photos was observed for the Timiryazevsky park – a semi-natural green area, while the centrally located Gorky Park was the most affected, likely due to the strictest control measures. In comparison to 2019, photos in 2020 were more evenly distributed across the area in all the three parks. Besides, ‘natural’ areas became the main attractors for the visitors - photos under ‘nature observation’ category became the most popular. Spatial distribution of the recreational activities in post-lockdown period was characterized by larger distances between photos, likely corresponding to the social distancing. COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the value of green areas for citizens, but also changed their recreational preferences and overall behavior in parks. The observed shift from high density of visitors around entertainments and attractions in 2019 to a more homogeneous and less dense distribution along the natural zones in 2020 reveals a new pattern in visitors behavior and preference, which shall be considered in spatial planning of the parks. Increasing availability of natural green areas and their integration in urban green infrastructures can become the most relevant policy to consider the crucial role of urban nature as a source of resilience in turbulent times.