Pub Date : 2025-01-27DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128698
Lu Zhang , Siyu Wang , Wei Zhai , Zhichao He , Wenjiao Shi , Yueru Li , Chunhong Zhao
Considering the limited availability of urban Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI), a principal area of focus in this research is identifying methods to maximize their cooling effects more effectively. Previous research has identified varying dominant factors in mitigating the urban heat island effect through the spatial arrangement of BGI. However, research on the specific mechanisms of these factors within different urban functional zones (UFZs) and their interactions with human activities remains insufficient. In this research, the influence of the BGI landscape index on surface temperature in different UFZs is explored through a random forest model, using Changchun, China as a case study. Results indicate that 1) Reducing the patch density of Green Infrastructure to 50 patches/ha can effectively lower surface temperature in Ecological Zones. 2) In other UFZs, the percentage of landscape of Green Infrastructure typically acts as a crucial factor contributing to the cooling effect. 3) Enhancing connectivity and proportional area of Blue Infrastructure markedly advances the cooling impacts in Ecological Zones. This study offers data-driven empirical evidence for advancing urban planning and environmental management strategies. It emphasizes the need to incorporate proper BGI patterns and urban functions in planning processes to effectively mitigate the urban heat island effect.
{"title":"How does Blue-Green Infrastructure affect the urban thermal environment across various functional zones?","authors":"Lu Zhang , Siyu Wang , Wei Zhai , Zhichao He , Wenjiao Shi , Yueru Li , Chunhong Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128698","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128698","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Considering the limited availability of urban Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI), a principal area of focus in this research is identifying methods to maximize their cooling effects more effectively. Previous research has identified varying dominant factors in mitigating the urban heat island effect through the spatial arrangement of BGI. However, research on the specific mechanisms of these factors within different urban functional zones (UFZs) and their interactions with human activities remains insufficient. In this research, the influence of the BGI landscape index on surface temperature in different UFZs is explored through a random forest model, using Changchun, China as a case study. Results indicate that 1) Reducing the patch density of Green Infrastructure to 50 patches/ha can effectively lower surface temperature in Ecological Zones. 2) In other UFZs, the percentage of landscape of Green Infrastructure typically acts as a crucial factor contributing to the cooling effect. 3) Enhancing connectivity and proportional area of Blue Infrastructure markedly advances the cooling impacts in Ecological Zones. This study offers data-driven empirical evidence for advancing urban planning and environmental management strategies. It emphasizes the need to incorporate proper BGI patterns and urban functions in planning processes to effectively mitigate the urban heat island effect.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"105 ","pages":"Article 128698"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143342995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-27DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128712
Zheng Tan , George Christopoulos , Adam C. Roberts , Guancong Ren , Wanlu Ouyang , Kathy Lo , Clement Ho
Comfortable walking environments promote healthy lifestyle and facilitate active ageing. Thermal comfort during walking is a relatively unexplored research area. It has become a more critical issue due to the increased frequency of very hot weather. This study conducted a real-site experiment to study thermal comfort during walking for both older and younger adults. Participants walked in a “shaded-unshaded-shaded” sequence in a densely built-up area and a green space during very hot weather conditions. Microclimate variables, participants’ physiological responses and thermal sensation votes were recorded in the experiment. The physiologically equivalent temperatures (PET) during walking status in different environmental settings were estimated for the older and younger adult groups. The results indicated that, after a person walked in an unshaded space and reached a “hot” thermal sensation, walking in a shaded built-up area improved thermal sensation but not to a neutral level. Only a shaded green space could help to restore comfort during walking. While younger adults’ thermal sensation changes were mainly explained by PET changes, older adults tended to be more affected by the different settings of built-up area and green space. Among the physiological metrics adopted in the study, skin temperature and heart rate showed significant correlations with the thermal sensation vote. Design implications such as street greening work and minimum provision of tree shading on pedestrian areas were discussed.
{"title":"The comparative thermal experience of young and old pedestrians in urban green spaces and in densely built areas","authors":"Zheng Tan , George Christopoulos , Adam C. Roberts , Guancong Ren , Wanlu Ouyang , Kathy Lo , Clement Ho","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128712","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128712","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Comfortable walking environments promote healthy lifestyle and facilitate active ageing. Thermal comfort during walking is a relatively unexplored research area. It has become a more critical issue due to the increased frequency of very hot weather. This study conducted a real-site experiment to study thermal comfort during walking for both older and younger adults. Participants walked in a “shaded-unshaded-shaded” sequence in a densely built-up area and a green space during very hot weather conditions. Microclimate variables, participants’ physiological responses and thermal sensation votes were recorded in the experiment. The physiologically equivalent temperatures (PET) during walking status in different environmental settings were estimated for the older and younger adult groups. The results indicated that, after a person walked in an unshaded space and reached a “hot” thermal sensation, walking in a shaded built-up area improved thermal sensation but not to a neutral level. Only a shaded green space could help to restore comfort during walking. While younger adults’ thermal sensation changes were mainly explained by PET changes, older adults tended to be more affected by the different settings of built-up area and green space. Among the physiological metrics adopted in the study, skin temperature and heart rate showed significant correlations with the thermal sensation vote. Design implications such as street greening work and minimum provision of tree shading on pedestrian areas were discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"105 ","pages":"Article 128712"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165931","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
While university campuses provide a substantial and diverse array of green areas, their development usually contributes to the adverse effects of urbanisation on ecosystems. However, academic green spaces may contribute to socio-ecological transitions, and higher education institutions can use their educational and scientific potential to implement sustainable development strategies. Our study explores the (re)greening transition of a university campus in Central Europe. Specifically, we aim to identify the role of grassroots university activism in this process, the driving forces behind it, and the challenges encountered. We understand the (re)greening transition as a multifaceted shift that includes changes in landscaping practices, the implementation of nature-based solutions, and the reduction of impermeable surfaces wherever possible. We identified three stages of the transition: green opposition, green acupuncture with collaborative projects, and patchworked palimpsest with the institutionalisation of bottom-up initiatives. These stages constitute a response to an earlier period of top-down ‘terraformation’ that destroyed semi-natural habitats and implemented traditional landscaping. While the (re)greening transition cannot fully restore pre-construction habitats, the academic green spaces on campus now serve a wider range of functions, including aesthetic, social, regenerative, ecological, educational and scientific roles, thereby enhancing the cultural, regulating and provisioning ecosystem services provided by these spaces.
{"title":"(Re)greening transition of academic green spaces as a response to social and environmental challenges: The role of bottom-up initiatives","authors":"Jarosław Działek , Ewa Jarecka-Bidzińska , Anna Staniewska , Fanny Téoule","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128692","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128692","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While university campuses provide a substantial and diverse array of green areas, their development usually contributes to the adverse effects of urbanisation on ecosystems. However, academic green spaces may contribute to socio-ecological transitions, and higher education institutions can use their educational and scientific potential to implement sustainable development strategies. Our study explores the (re)greening transition of a university campus in Central Europe. Specifically, we aim to identify the role of grassroots university activism in this process, the driving forces behind it, and the challenges encountered. We understand the (re)greening transition as a multifaceted shift that includes changes in landscaping practices, the implementation of nature-based solutions, and the reduction of impermeable surfaces wherever possible. We identified three stages of the transition: green opposition, green acupuncture with collaborative projects, and patchworked palimpsest with the institutionalisation of bottom-up initiatives. These stages constitute a response to an earlier period of top-down ‘terraformation’ that destroyed semi-natural habitats and implemented traditional landscaping. While the (re)greening transition cannot fully restore pre-construction habitats, the academic green spaces on campus now serve a wider range of functions, including aesthetic, social, regenerative, ecological, educational and scientific roles, thereby enhancing the cultural, regulating and provisioning ecosystem services provided by these spaces.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"105 ","pages":"Article 128692"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143071580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-26DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128695
Sina Jarahizadeh, Bahram Salehi
The initial phase in determining tree parameters within urban and forest environments is Individual Tree Detection (ITD), which includes tree count, spatial distribution, height, volume, crown dimensions, and species identification. This process holds significance in applications like urban forest inventory, planning, and tree carbon accounting. Traditional airborne and spaceborne remote sensing data lack the precision required for ITD due to their coarse spatial resolution. High-resolution multispectral and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data collected by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) sensors have enabled detailed ITD and tree parameter estimation. However, the processing of such very high-resolution data presents challenges. While existing algorithms for processing 2-dimensional (2D) and 3-dimensional (3D) data from airborne sensors exist, they prove impractical for UAV data, primarily due to its extremely high spatial resolution. Recent strides in deep-learning algorithms offer promising solutions for ITD using UAV data. This paper introduces a novel ITD method using a modified You Only Look Once V7 (YOLO V7) deep learning object detection framework, employing UAV LiDAR data. The approach involves rasterizing point clouds in various channels, including Vertical Density (VD), Canopy Height Model (CHM), Gradient of the CHM (G-CHM), and Local Binary Pattern of the CHM (LBP-CHM). Subsequently, the YOLO V7 object detector is employed to identify the bounding box of each tree. The modified YOLO7 algorithm is trained and tested on UAV LiDAR data collected over diverse regions of interest, encompassing pine, deciduous, and mixed tree types with varying tree densities. The results exhibit a substantial enhancement over the previously developed YOLO3 on airborne LiDAR data, showcasing heightened accuracy, precision, and recall within the ranges of 0.7–0.94, 0.76–0.99, and 0.8–0.97, respectively. From a practical standpoint, our automated method holds potential for urban tree inventory updates and serves as a valuable tool for ground-truthing large-scale satellite-based forest structure and biomass estimation, among various other applications.
{"title":"Advancing tree detection in forest environments: A deep learning object detector approach with UAV LiDAR data","authors":"Sina Jarahizadeh, Bahram Salehi","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128695","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128695","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The initial phase in determining tree parameters within urban and forest environments is Individual Tree Detection (ITD), which includes tree count, spatial distribution, height, volume, crown dimensions, and species identification. This process holds significance in applications like urban forest inventory, planning, and tree carbon accounting. Traditional airborne and spaceborne remote sensing data lack the precision required for ITD due to their coarse spatial resolution. High-resolution multispectral and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data collected by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) sensors have enabled detailed ITD and tree parameter estimation. However, the processing of such very high-resolution data presents challenges. While existing algorithms for processing 2-dimensional (2D) and 3-dimensional (3D) data from airborne sensors exist, they prove impractical for UAV data, primarily due to its extremely high spatial resolution. Recent strides in deep-learning algorithms offer promising solutions for ITD using UAV data. This paper introduces a novel ITD method using a modified You Only Look Once V7 (YOLO V7) deep learning object detection framework, employing UAV LiDAR data. The approach involves rasterizing point clouds in various channels, including Vertical Density (VD), Canopy Height Model (CHM), Gradient of the CHM (G-CHM), and Local Binary Pattern of the CHM (LBP-CHM). Subsequently, the YOLO V7 object detector is employed to identify the bounding box of each tree. The modified YOLO7 algorithm is trained and tested on UAV LiDAR data collected over diverse regions of interest, encompassing pine, deciduous, and mixed tree types with varying tree densities. The results exhibit a substantial enhancement over the previously developed YOLO3 on airborne LiDAR data, showcasing heightened accuracy, precision, and recall within the ranges of 0.7–0.94, 0.76–0.99, and 0.8–0.97, respectively. From a practical standpoint, our automated method holds potential for urban tree inventory updates and serves as a valuable tool for ground-truthing large-scale satellite-based forest structure and biomass estimation, among various other applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"105 ","pages":"Article 128695"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143071582","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-26DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128706
Ruqing Zhao , Yang Song , Shuying Guo , Zipeng Guo , Xiwei Shen
Park visit duration is a critical yet often overlooked metric for assessing the effectiveness of park characteristics and their ability to foster user engagement and health benefits. Our study delved into the relationship between park characteristics and visit durations across different park types by utilizing longitudinal smartphone data in Austin, USA. We aggregated user behavior data on visit durations and then employed a fixed effects regression model that considered time-related variables, aiming to minimize unobserved deviation. Results showed that park characteristics significantly affected visit duration, but their impacts varied by park type. For instance, shade area facilities were advantageous in nature preserves but proved to be less favorable in school parks. The findings can guide the park development and design across different park types, optimizing resource distribution and facilities to encourage longer visits and maximize health benefits.
{"title":"Unraveling the relationships between urban park characteristics and visit durations: A longitudinal smartphone behavior survey in Austin","authors":"Ruqing Zhao , Yang Song , Shuying Guo , Zipeng Guo , Xiwei Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128706","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128706","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Park visit duration is a critical yet often overlooked metric for assessing the effectiveness of park characteristics and their ability to foster user engagement and health benefits. Our study delved into the relationship between park characteristics and visit durations across different park types by utilizing longitudinal smartphone data in Austin, USA. We aggregated user behavior data on visit durations and then employed a fixed effects regression model that considered time-related variables, aiming to minimize unobserved deviation. Results showed that park characteristics significantly affected visit duration, but their impacts varied by park type. For instance, shade area facilities were advantageous in nature preserves but proved to be less favorable in school parks. The findings can guide the park development and design across different park types, optimizing resource distribution and facilities to encourage longer visits and maximize health benefits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"105 ","pages":"Article 128706"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143071581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-25DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128697
Marco Vizzari, Francesco Antonielli, Livia Bonciarelli, David Grohmann, Maria Elena Menconi
This study presents a novel object-based classification approach using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, explicitly designed for urban tree areas. By integrating high-resolution orthophotos, LiDAR, PlanetScope, Sentinel-2, and Sentinel-1 data, we aimed to enhance classification accuracy through comprehensive multi-sensor data fusion. The object-based approach included SNIC (Simple Non-Iterative Clustering) object identification and GLCM (Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix) textural analysis in GEE using the orthophotos. The methodology was developed and systematically assessed through twenty-two different Random Forest (RF) classifications of single- and multi-sensor datasets in two representative Italian urban environments, Perugia and Bologna. For the Perugia area, we identified Olea europea, Quercus ilex, Tilia, Pinus, and Cupressus, while for the Bologna area, we differentiated Fraxinus, Acer, Celtis, Tilia, and Platanus. The results demonstrated significant improvements in overall and spatial accuracy and F-scores with the object-based fusion of diverse data sources, highlighting the substantial benefits of combining spectral, spatial, and height information, obtaining an overall accuracy and average F-scores up to 92 % and 91 %, respectively. Specifically, integrating orthophotos and LiDAR data provided robust initial segmentation and feature extraction, while including PlanetScope and Sentinel multispectral information further refined classification performance. Integrating only RGB orthophotos with multispectral data at the object level achieved promising results, offering perspectives for high-resolution urban tree mapping using broadly available data. The proposed approach, developed in GEE, provides a scalable and efficient framework for urban planners and environmental managers, supporting urban forest monitoring and ecosystem services modeling.
{"title":"Urban greenery mapping using object-based classification and multi-sensor data fusion in Google Earth Engine","authors":"Marco Vizzari, Francesco Antonielli, Livia Bonciarelli, David Grohmann, Maria Elena Menconi","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128697","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128697","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents a novel object-based classification approach using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, explicitly designed for urban tree areas. By integrating high-resolution orthophotos, LiDAR, PlanetScope, Sentinel-2, and Sentinel-1 data, we aimed to enhance classification accuracy through comprehensive multi-sensor data fusion. The object-based approach included SNIC (Simple Non-Iterative Clustering) object identification and GLCM (Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix) textural analysis in GEE using the orthophotos. The methodology was developed and systematically assessed through twenty-two different Random Forest (RF) classifications of single- and multi-sensor datasets in two representative Italian urban environments, Perugia and Bologna. For the Perugia area, we identified <em>Olea europea, Quercus ilex, Tilia, Pinus,</em> and <em>Cupressus</em>, while for the Bologna area, we differentiated <em>Fraxinus, Acer, Celtis, Tilia,</em> and <em>Platanus.</em> The results demonstrated significant improvements in overall and spatial accuracy and F-scores with the object-based fusion of diverse data sources, highlighting the substantial benefits of combining spectral, spatial, and height information, obtaining an overall accuracy and average F-scores up to 92 % and 91 %, respectively. Specifically, integrating orthophotos and LiDAR data provided robust initial segmentation and feature extraction, while including PlanetScope and Sentinel multispectral information further refined classification performance. Integrating only RGB orthophotos with multispectral data at the object level achieved promising results, offering perspectives for high-resolution urban tree mapping using broadly available data. The proposed approach, developed in GEE, provides a scalable and efficient framework for urban planners and environmental managers, supporting urban forest monitoring and ecosystem services modeling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"105 ","pages":"Article 128697"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143071598","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128689
Xinlei Hu , Ziwen Sun
As cities increasingly embrace high-density development, rewilding has been discussed recently as a landscape design/management strategy that uses spontaneous natural process to improve urban biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the mental health and well-being of urban dwellers. However, in comparison with traditional parks (e.g., manicured lawns and orderly plantings), the wild parks (e.g., natural and wilder characteristics) evoke fresh debate, such as calling into question their safety and recreational usages. To address this debate, this paper investigated residents’ usages, perceptions, and preferences of wild and traditional parks according to five park attributes (i.e., Biodiversity, Facilities, Woodlands, Maintenance, and Seasonal views) in Chinese mega cities. The study was conducted in Shanghai using focus groups (N = 34) and conjoint analysis (N = 133). Our results show that both park types served as important green spaces for relaxation and were generally perceived as safe in the densely populated urban core of Shanghai. The wild park type was more frequently used for walking and nature recreation, while the traditional type tended to be used for active physical activities and social contact. The wild park type was valued for its rich flora and fauna, providing restorative benefits and place attachment, while the traditional type was appreciated for its facilities and neatness. Environmental interventions that would make wild parks more attractive included improving maintenance levels, incorporating recreation facilities, and managing woodlands to keep them more open. The research provides a fine-grain picture of wild and traditional parks from a user experience perspective in Chinese mega cities, including their nuanced effects on human health and well-being.
{"title":"Usages, perceptions and preferences of wild and traditional park types in Chinese mega cities: A case study from Shanghai","authors":"Xinlei Hu , Ziwen Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128689","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128689","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As cities increasingly embrace high-density development, rewilding has been discussed recently as a landscape design/management strategy that uses spontaneous natural process to improve urban biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the mental health and well-being of urban dwellers. However, in comparison with traditional parks (e.g., manicured lawns and orderly plantings), the wild parks (e.g., natural and wilder characteristics) evoke fresh debate, such as calling into question their safety and recreational usages. To address this debate, this paper investigated residents’ usages, perceptions, and preferences of wild and traditional parks according to five park attributes (i.e., Biodiversity, Facilities, Woodlands, Maintenance, and Seasonal views) in Chinese mega cities. The study was conducted in Shanghai using focus groups (N = 34) and conjoint analysis (N = 133). Our results show that both park types served as important green spaces for relaxation and were generally perceived as safe in the densely populated urban core of Shanghai. The wild park type was more frequently used for walking and nature recreation, while the traditional type tended to be used for active physical activities and social contact. The wild park type was valued for its rich flora and fauna, providing restorative benefits and place attachment, while the traditional type was appreciated for its facilities and neatness. Environmental interventions that would make wild parks more attractive included improving maintenance levels, incorporating recreation facilities, and managing woodlands to keep them more open. The research provides a fine-grain picture of wild and traditional parks from a user experience perspective in Chinese mega cities, including their nuanced effects on human health and well-being.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"105 ","pages":"Article 128689"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143342996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128684
Jie Li , Haoran Ma , Mei-Po Kwan , Shaojie Zhang
Urban parks play a crucial role in human health and well-being, such as promoting physical activity (PA). However, past studies on park-based PA often overlooked other PA characteristics beyond the amount of PA. To bridge this gap, we explored what environmental factors are significantly associated with PA amount, intensity, and diversity, utilizing PA trajectory data collected from the Keep application, which includes walking, jogging, and cycling, with Nanjing as a case study. We employed hierarchical linear models (HLMs) to examine the associations between environmental features and PA at two nested levels: the route level (environmental factors along routes) and the park level (environmental factors of parks and neighborhoods). The results showed that: (1) PA intensity significantly increased on exercise routes located along park boundary trails or shaped as loops. (2) Blue space density emerged as the most essential landscape feature in explaining overall PA amount, while the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) showed a negative association with PA amount. (3) Linear and sports parks were associated with higher PA intensity, while specialized and nature parks were associated with greater PA diversity compared to comprehensive parks. (4) The density of transit stops around parks was positively associated with PA amount and diversity and population density was positively associated with PA intensity, while Services and Facilities Points Of Interest (SFPOI) negatively affected PA amount and intensity. Based on these findings, we recommend strategies for urban fitness trail planning and infrastructure allocation to support the nuanced park environmental management. These proposals aim to increase park utilization for PA and promote urban public health and well-being.
{"title":"Deciphering popular routes in urban parks: The impact of environmental factors on the amount, intensity and diversity of physical activity","authors":"Jie Li , Haoran Ma , Mei-Po Kwan , Shaojie Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128684","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128684","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban parks play a crucial role in human health and well-being, such as promoting physical activity (PA). However, past studies on park-based PA often overlooked other PA characteristics beyond the amount of PA. To bridge this gap, we explored what environmental factors are significantly associated with PA amount, intensity, and diversity, utilizing PA trajectory data collected from the Keep application, which includes walking, jogging, and cycling, with Nanjing as a case study. We employed hierarchical linear models (HLMs) to examine the associations between environmental features and PA at two nested levels: the route level (environmental factors along routes) and the park level (environmental factors of parks and neighborhoods). The results showed that: (1) PA intensity significantly increased on exercise routes located along park boundary trails or shaped as loops. (2) Blue space density emerged as the most essential landscape feature in explaining overall PA amount, while the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) showed a negative association with PA amount. (3) Linear and sports parks were associated with higher PA intensity, while specialized and nature parks were associated with greater PA diversity compared to comprehensive parks. (4) The density of transit stops around parks was positively associated with PA amount and diversity and population density was positively associated with PA intensity, while Services and Facilities Points Of Interest (SFPOI) negatively affected PA amount and intensity. Based on these findings, we recommend strategies for urban fitness trail planning and infrastructure allocation to support the nuanced park environmental management. These proposals aim to increase park utilization for PA and promote urban public health and well-being.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"105 ","pages":"Article 128684"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128682
Paolo Biella , Luciano Bani , Enrico Caprio , Francesca Cochis , Olivia Dondina , Valentina Fiorilli , Andrea Genre , Rodolfo Gentili , Valerio Orioli , Rosa Ranalli , Pietro Tirozzi , Massimo Labra
Biodiversity is pivotal for delivering ecosystem services to the human society, but lack of nesting, shortages of trophic resources and disharmonic biological communities are common problems in urban areas. In this review, we aimed to understand how to transform urban green areas into biodiversity-friendly spaces. We surveyed studies by targeting several trophic levels: from plants and their soil symbionts to pollinators, birds and mammals in order to find ways of reactivating ecosystem functioning and redundancy. Specifically, here we focused on three key ecological pillars: establishment (i.e., planting/nesting), resources acquisition (i.e., feeding) and the multiplicity of ecosystem levels. We also proposed to integrate the actions used on broad surfaces and big parks with micro-injections at local scales and in small green areas to increase habitat suitability. We detailed a set of best and bad practices to streamline the enhancement of multi-taxa urban biodiversity by applying a combination of appropriate management of existing urban features and targeted installation of supporting elements. We also recommend a systematic incorporation of post-operam monitoring to test action efficacy and highlight the crucial role of a cooperative attitude among society participants, and we also highlight three main topics for urgent future research. In this review, we show that restoring urban nature could be based on an ensemble of simple, yet effective, supporting actions targeting different ecological levels to sustain ecosystem functioning and services at different spatial scales.
{"title":"Biodiversity-friendly practices to support urban nature across ecosystem levels in green areas at different scales","authors":"Paolo Biella , Luciano Bani , Enrico Caprio , Francesca Cochis , Olivia Dondina , Valentina Fiorilli , Andrea Genre , Rodolfo Gentili , Valerio Orioli , Rosa Ranalli , Pietro Tirozzi , Massimo Labra","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128682","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128682","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biodiversity is pivotal for delivering ecosystem services to the human society, but lack of nesting, shortages of trophic resources and disharmonic biological communities are common problems in urban areas. In this review, we aimed to understand how to transform urban green areas into biodiversity-friendly spaces. We surveyed studies by targeting several trophic levels: from plants and their soil symbionts to pollinators, birds and mammals in order to find ways of reactivating ecosystem functioning and redundancy. Specifically, here we focused on three key ecological pillars: establishment (<em>i.e.</em>, planting/nesting), resources acquisition (<em>i.e.</em>, feeding) and the multiplicity of ecosystem levels. We also proposed to integrate the actions used on broad surfaces and big parks with micro-injections at local scales and in small green areas to increase habitat suitability. We detailed a set of best and bad practices to streamline the enhancement of multi-taxa urban biodiversity by applying a combination of appropriate management of existing urban features and targeted installation of supporting elements. We also recommend a systematic incorporation of post-operam monitoring to test action efficacy and highlight the crucial role of a cooperative attitude among society participants, and we also highlight three main topics for urgent future research. In this review, we show that restoring urban nature could be based on an ensemble of simple, yet effective, supporting actions targeting different ecological levels to sustain ecosystem functioning and services at different spatial scales.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"105 ","pages":"Article 128682"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-21DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128683
Zhenchuan Yang , Mei-Po Kwan , Dong Liu , Jianwei Huang
Global mental health is facing challenges. Environmental factors, such as enhanced greenspace and reduced air and noise pollution, alongside physical activity, are assumed to be significant promoters of mental health. However, previous studies have not thoroughly investigated the combined effects of greenspace, air pollution, noise pollution, and physical activity regarding their impact on mental health. Moreover, there is a scant consideration of the subjective versus objective assessments of greenspace exposure. Therefore, this study aims to bridge these gaps by systematically exploring how objective and subjective greenspace, combined with air and noise pollution, impacts mental health through the mediation of physical activity. Data were gathered from 683 participants in Hong Kong between November 19, 2021 and April 6, 2023, supplemented by NDVI data from Sentinel-2. Structural equation modeling and mediation analyses were employed. The findings indicated that (1) Objective greenspace does not necessarily affect perceived and real usage of greenspace; rather, the quality of greenspace plays a more critical role; (2) Physical activity significantly mediates the relationships between greenspace, air pollution, and noise pollution and mental health, with a more pronounced effect for greenspace; (3) Combined effects showed that greenspace has the most substantial total effect on mental health, followed by air pollution and noise pollution. Our study enriches the existing literature and suggests the necessity of integrating urban greenspace planning with environmental governance, focusing particularly on greenspace quality.
{"title":"How objective and subjective greenspace, combined with air and noise pollution, impacts mental health through the mediation of physical activity","authors":"Zhenchuan Yang , Mei-Po Kwan , Dong Liu , Jianwei Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128683","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128683","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Global mental health is facing challenges. Environmental factors, such as enhanced greenspace and reduced air and noise pollution, alongside physical activity, are assumed to be significant promoters of mental health. However, previous studies have not thoroughly investigated the combined effects of greenspace, air pollution, noise pollution, and physical activity regarding their impact on mental health. Moreover, there is a scant consideration of the subjective versus objective assessments of greenspace exposure. Therefore, this study aims to bridge these gaps by systematically exploring how objective and subjective greenspace, combined with air and noise pollution, impacts mental health through the mediation of physical activity. Data were gathered from 683 participants in Hong Kong between November 19, 2021 and April 6, 2023, supplemented by NDVI data from Sentinel-2. Structural equation modeling and mediation analyses were employed. The findings indicated that (1) Objective greenspace does not necessarily affect perceived and real usage of greenspace; rather, the quality of greenspace plays a more critical role; (2) Physical activity significantly mediates the relationships between greenspace, air pollution, and noise pollution and mental health, with a more pronounced effect for greenspace; (3) Combined effects showed that greenspace has the most substantial total effect on mental health, followed by air pollution and noise pollution. Our study enriches the existing literature and suggests the necessity of integrating urban greenspace planning with environmental governance, focusing particularly on greenspace quality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"105 ","pages":"Article 128683"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号