From gardens to neighbourhoods: Characterizing the climate adaptation contribution of the garden landscape in Flanders

Abstract

Domestic gardens are an important component of urban green and blue infrastructure, which can play a significant role in alleviating the impacts of climate change. However, research on the different factors influencing to what extent domestic gardens contribute to climate change adaptation on a regional scale remains limited. We developed a garden parcel map from spatial datasets for Flanders (Belgium), allowing us to identify over 2.4 million domestic garden parcels covering more than 12 % of Flanders. Garden parcel size and land cover composition including high green, water, low green, bare soil and impervious surfaces were derived from this map. One key metric is the Biotope Area Factor, an index that considers the different land covers' capacity to contribute to climate adaptation. Generalized mixed effects models were used to investigate associations between these garden characteristics and sociodemographic and housing factors at census tract level. Models incorporated urban-rural differences and included a random factor for both latitude and longitude. Factors such as education level and housing type were strongly related to the presence and types of land cover within individual gardens. Notably, education was strongly positively associated with climate adaptation contribution (i.e., high Biotope Area Factor) across all urbanization levels, while income showed a negative association in suburban and rural areas. The factors associated with garden characteristics differed depending on the urbanization level. By quantifying the regional garden coverage, our study demonstrates the strategic potential of gardens in climate adaptation. Tailored, region-specific policies are needed to maximize the adaptation benefits of gardens, considering the unique socio-demographic and housing characteristics in urban, suburban, and rural areas.