Pub Date : 2024-07-04DOI: 10.1038/s42949-024-00164-x
Guy Keulemans, Roxane Adams
This paper discusses literature and practice-based case studies in transformative, design-led reuse using emerging technologies. The inability of recycling to manage the assortment and complexity of waste materials within Circular Economy (CE) demands more discrete, attentive and granular approaches to reuse of waste by design professionals. This paper explores emerging and established digital technologies of Building Information Management (BIM), 3D scanning and artificial intelligence (AI) for their capacity to ease and improve transformative, design-led reuse practices for interiors, furnishings, architecture and building. Practice-based research is used to communicate first-hand encounters with the possibilities, benefits and challenges of these digital techniques.
{"title":"Emergent digital possibilities for design-led reuse within circular economy","authors":"Guy Keulemans, Roxane Adams","doi":"10.1038/s42949-024-00164-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42949-024-00164-x","url":null,"abstract":"This paper discusses literature and practice-based case studies in transformative, design-led reuse using emerging technologies. The inability of recycling to manage the assortment and complexity of waste materials within Circular Economy (CE) demands more discrete, attentive and granular approaches to reuse of waste by design professionals. This paper explores emerging and established digital technologies of Building Information Management (BIM), 3D scanning and artificial intelligence (AI) for their capacity to ease and improve transformative, design-led reuse practices for interiors, furnishings, architecture and building. Practice-based research is used to communicate first-hand encounters with the possibilities, benefits and challenges of these digital techniques.","PeriodicalId":74322,"journal":{"name":"npj urban sustainability","volume":" ","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-024-00164-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141537083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-04DOI: 10.1038/s42949-024-00167-8
Hao Han, Xuemei Bai, Robert Costanza, Liang Dong
Understanding the impacts of COVID-19 on citizens from different cities is crucial for urban resilience-building and reducing inequal resilience distribution. However, little research focuses on urban life at the individual level, particularly in second- and third-tier cities. An online survey was therefore conducted to collect data on how COVID-19 affected the cities and urban residents in mainland China. The results indicate that COVID-19 limited citizens’ access to healthcare facilities and socioeconomic activities apart from the immediate health crisis. Most citizens suffered reduced income, unemployment, and social anxiety. However, COVID-19 also raised social awareness and actions for disaster adaptation. The Chinese pandemic management has strengthened governmental leadership and credibility among most citizens in the early stage. Importantly, the results suggested that citizens in first-tier cities appeared more resilient to pandemics than those in second-tier cities. A networked resilience framework was therefore discussed for resilience-building policy implications.
{"title":"The effects of COVID-19 on the resilience of urban life in China","authors":"Hao Han, Xuemei Bai, Robert Costanza, Liang Dong","doi":"10.1038/s42949-024-00167-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42949-024-00167-8","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding the impacts of COVID-19 on citizens from different cities is crucial for urban resilience-building and reducing inequal resilience distribution. However, little research focuses on urban life at the individual level, particularly in second- and third-tier cities. An online survey was therefore conducted to collect data on how COVID-19 affected the cities and urban residents in mainland China. The results indicate that COVID-19 limited citizens’ access to healthcare facilities and socioeconomic activities apart from the immediate health crisis. Most citizens suffered reduced income, unemployment, and social anxiety. However, COVID-19 also raised social awareness and actions for disaster adaptation. The Chinese pandemic management has strengthened governmental leadership and credibility among most citizens in the early stage. Importantly, the results suggested that citizens in first-tier cities appeared more resilient to pandemics than those in second-tier cities. A networked resilience framework was therefore discussed for resilience-building policy implications.","PeriodicalId":74322,"journal":{"name":"npj urban sustainability","volume":" ","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-024-00167-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141537082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Urban greening is becoming an important strategy in improving urban ecosystem services and sustainability. Identifying the response of vegetation to urbanization and urban landscape patterns can help in planning for urban greening. Urbanization may lead to both direct and indirect effects on vegetation, and the indirect effects of urbanization on vegetation growth (UIE-VG) have been paid much attention recently in large scale. In this study, we investigated the spatiotemporal evolution of UIE-VG and the effects of landscape patterns on UIE-VG using the boosted regression tree model and remotely sensed data. An increase in average UIE-VG from 4 to 56% was found during urbanization of Kunming, the case study area in southwest China. However, UIE-VG exhibited high variations due to landscape pattern changes at the local scale. Overall, area-related and aggregation-related landscape metrics had greater effects on UIE-VG than the other metrics. The increase and aggregation of built-up land enhanced UIE-VG by 3.1–81.3% while the increase and aggregation of unused land and waterbodies reduced UIE-VG by 0.7–20.6%. Moreover, we found that the large and aggregated vegetation areas may mitigate the negative UIE-VG in low urbanization areas. Our findings have important implications for integrating urban landscape planning into sustainable urban greening strategies.
{"title":"Indirect non-linear effects of landscape patterns on vegetation growth in Kunming City","authors":"Ninglv Li, Fangkai Zhao, Shanshan Chen, Chun Li, Yiting Wang, Yuxin Ma, Liding Chen","doi":"10.1038/s42949-024-00165-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42949-024-00165-w","url":null,"abstract":"Urban greening is becoming an important strategy in improving urban ecosystem services and sustainability. Identifying the response of vegetation to urbanization and urban landscape patterns can help in planning for urban greening. Urbanization may lead to both direct and indirect effects on vegetation, and the indirect effects of urbanization on vegetation growth (UIE-VG) have been paid much attention recently in large scale. In this study, we investigated the spatiotemporal evolution of UIE-VG and the effects of landscape patterns on UIE-VG using the boosted regression tree model and remotely sensed data. An increase in average UIE-VG from 4 to 56% was found during urbanization of Kunming, the case study area in southwest China. However, UIE-VG exhibited high variations due to landscape pattern changes at the local scale. Overall, area-related and aggregation-related landscape metrics had greater effects on UIE-VG than the other metrics. The increase and aggregation of built-up land enhanced UIE-VG by 3.1–81.3% while the increase and aggregation of unused land and waterbodies reduced UIE-VG by 0.7–20.6%. Moreover, we found that the large and aggregated vegetation areas may mitigate the negative UIE-VG in low urbanization areas. Our findings have important implications for integrating urban landscape planning into sustainable urban greening strategies.","PeriodicalId":74322,"journal":{"name":"npj urban sustainability","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2024-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-024-00165-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141452728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-24DOI: 10.1038/s42949-024-00168-7
Felix Creutzig, Sophia Becker, Peter Berrill, Constanze Bongs, Alexandra Bussler, Ben Cave, Sara M. Constantino, Marcus Grant, Niko Heeren, Eva Heinen, Marie Josefine Hintz, Timothee Ingen-Housz, Eric Johnson, Nina Kolleck, Charlotte Liotta, Sylvia Lorek, Giulio Mattioli, Leila Niamir, Timon McPhearson, Nikola Milojevic-Dupont, Florian Nachtigall, Kai Nagel, Henriette Närger, Minal Pathak, Paola Perrin de Brichambaut, Diana Reckien, Lucia A. Reisch, Aromar Revi, Fabian Schuppert, Andrew Sudmant, Felix Wagner, Janina Walkenhorst, Elke Weber, Michael Wilmes, Charlie Wilson, Aicha Zekar
Cities and other human settlements are major contributors to climate change and are highly vulnerable to its impacts. They are also uniquely positioned to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lead adaptation efforts. These compound challenges and opportunities require a comprehensive perspective on the public policy of human settlements. Drawing on core literature that has driven debate around cities and climate over recent decades, we put forward a set of boundary objects that can be applied to connect the knowledge of epistemic communities and support an integrated urbanism. We then use these boundary objects to develop the Goals-Intervention-Stakeholder-Enablers (GISE) framework for a public policy of human settlements that is both place-specific and provides insights and tools useful for climate action in cities and other human settlements worldwide. Using examples from Berlin, we apply this framework to show that climate mitigation and adaptation, public health, and well-being goals are closely linked and mutually supportive when a comprehensive approach to urban public policy is applied.
{"title":"Towards a public policy of cities and human settlements in the 21st century","authors":"Felix Creutzig, Sophia Becker, Peter Berrill, Constanze Bongs, Alexandra Bussler, Ben Cave, Sara M. Constantino, Marcus Grant, Niko Heeren, Eva Heinen, Marie Josefine Hintz, Timothee Ingen-Housz, Eric Johnson, Nina Kolleck, Charlotte Liotta, Sylvia Lorek, Giulio Mattioli, Leila Niamir, Timon McPhearson, Nikola Milojevic-Dupont, Florian Nachtigall, Kai Nagel, Henriette Närger, Minal Pathak, Paola Perrin de Brichambaut, Diana Reckien, Lucia A. Reisch, Aromar Revi, Fabian Schuppert, Andrew Sudmant, Felix Wagner, Janina Walkenhorst, Elke Weber, Michael Wilmes, Charlie Wilson, Aicha Zekar","doi":"10.1038/s42949-024-00168-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42949-024-00168-7","url":null,"abstract":"Cities and other human settlements are major contributors to climate change and are highly vulnerable to its impacts. They are also uniquely positioned to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lead adaptation efforts. These compound challenges and opportunities require a comprehensive perspective on the public policy of human settlements. Drawing on core literature that has driven debate around cities and climate over recent decades, we put forward a set of boundary objects that can be applied to connect the knowledge of epistemic communities and support an integrated urbanism. We then use these boundary objects to develop the Goals-Intervention-Stakeholder-Enablers (GISE) framework for a public policy of human settlements that is both place-specific and provides insights and tools useful for climate action in cities and other human settlements worldwide. Using examples from Berlin, we apply this framework to show that climate mitigation and adaptation, public health, and well-being goals are closely linked and mutually supportive when a comprehensive approach to urban public policy is applied.","PeriodicalId":74322,"journal":{"name":"npj urban sustainability","volume":" ","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2024-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-024-00168-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141452729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-31DOI: 10.1038/s42949-024-00166-9
Yiheng Wang, Guanjie Zheng, Hexi Jin, Yi Sun, Kan Wu, Jie Fang
The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019 has profoundly affected public health and the global economy. Policymakers face the challenge of evolving virus mutations and one key measure involves the use of Health Code to classify the public and enforce quarantine policies. Despite widespread adoption, its effectiveness in mitigating the epidemic is not well understood. Here, we proposed an infection component model to assess the Health Code’s effectiveness. We found that “Precise control” using Health Code can strike a balance between economic growth and public health, reducing 97% of deaths and improving 1% of GDP compared to “No control” or city shutdown policies. Moreover, its medical costs are only 43% of the latter. However, its effectiveness diminishes if the basic reproductive number ( $${R}_{0}$$ ) exceeds 16.5, indicating the end of this epidemic with “Precise control”. These findings have important implications for policymakers in developing effective strategies to combat the pandemic.
{"title":"Precise control balances epidemic mitigation and economic growth","authors":"Yiheng Wang, Guanjie Zheng, Hexi Jin, Yi Sun, Kan Wu, Jie Fang","doi":"10.1038/s42949-024-00166-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42949-024-00166-9","url":null,"abstract":"The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019 has profoundly affected public health and the global economy. Policymakers face the challenge of evolving virus mutations and one key measure involves the use of Health Code to classify the public and enforce quarantine policies. Despite widespread adoption, its effectiveness in mitigating the epidemic is not well understood. Here, we proposed an infection component model to assess the Health Code’s effectiveness. We found that “Precise control” using Health Code can strike a balance between economic growth and public health, reducing 97% of deaths and improving 1% of GDP compared to “No control” or city shutdown policies. Moreover, its medical costs are only 43% of the latter. However, its effectiveness diminishes if the basic reproductive number ( $${R}_{0}$$ ) exceeds 16.5, indicating the end of this epidemic with “Precise control”. These findings have important implications for policymakers in developing effective strategies to combat the pandemic.","PeriodicalId":74322,"journal":{"name":"npj urban sustainability","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-024-00166-9.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141182301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-24DOI: 10.1038/s42949-024-00161-0
Gladys Elizabeth Kenyon, Dani Arribas-Bel, Caitlin Robinson, Olga Gkountouna, Pelayo Arbués, David Rey-Blanco
In this paper we explore the temporal dynamics of spatial inequality in housing prices for Madrid, the capital city of Spain. Spatial inequalities are a concerning feature of urban areas across the globe. It has been suggested that within cities housing prices are becoming more geographically unequal over time, particularly since the 2008 housing market crash. However, more evidence is needed at the intra-urban level to understand neighbourhood house price differences in large urban areas. Changes are analysed during a key period of the housing market bust (2010–2015) and boom (2016–2019), using data from a major housing listing portal. Fine grain space-time analysis of the distribution of housing prices supports an increase in spatial inequality and polarisation at the neighbourhood level. Two spatially differentiated housing sub-markets of high- and low-priced housing are identified. The persistence and growth of spatial house price inequality has important societal implications for the wealth gap and segregation of rich and poor in cities.
{"title":"Intra-urban house prices in Madrid following the financial crisis: an exploration of spatial inequality","authors":"Gladys Elizabeth Kenyon, Dani Arribas-Bel, Caitlin Robinson, Olga Gkountouna, Pelayo Arbués, David Rey-Blanco","doi":"10.1038/s42949-024-00161-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42949-024-00161-0","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper we explore the temporal dynamics of spatial inequality in housing prices for Madrid, the capital city of Spain. Spatial inequalities are a concerning feature of urban areas across the globe. It has been suggested that within cities housing prices are becoming more geographically unequal over time, particularly since the 2008 housing market crash. However, more evidence is needed at the intra-urban level to understand neighbourhood house price differences in large urban areas. Changes are analysed during a key period of the housing market bust (2010–2015) and boom (2016–2019), using data from a major housing listing portal. Fine grain space-time analysis of the distribution of housing prices supports an increase in spatial inequality and polarisation at the neighbourhood level. Two spatially differentiated housing sub-markets of high- and low-priced housing are identified. The persistence and growth of spatial house price inequality has important societal implications for the wealth gap and segregation of rich and poor in cities.","PeriodicalId":74322,"journal":{"name":"npj urban sustainability","volume":" ","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-024-00161-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140639691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-24DOI: 10.1038/s42949-024-00163-y
Kilian Perrelet, Marco Moretti, Andreas Dietzel, Florian Altermatt, Lauren M. Cook
Blue-green infrastructure (BGI), combining semi-natural and engineered elements, offers multifaceted benefits like stormwater management, water purification, heat mitigation, and habitat provision. However, current BGI designs prioritize engineering goals, overlooking its ecological potential. Here we advocate for integrating engineering and ecological objectives into BGI design to enhance performance and biodiversity. Through an interdisciplinary literature review, we emphasize the importance of species diversity, abundance, and ecological processes, to improve engineering performance and resilience, and lower management costs. We emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to navigate trade-offs between engineering and ecological objectives, ultimately enabling us to engineer both for and with biodiversity.
{"title":"Engineering blue-green infrastructure for and with biodiversity in cities","authors":"Kilian Perrelet, Marco Moretti, Andreas Dietzel, Florian Altermatt, Lauren M. Cook","doi":"10.1038/s42949-024-00163-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42949-024-00163-y","url":null,"abstract":"Blue-green infrastructure (BGI), combining semi-natural and engineered elements, offers multifaceted benefits like stormwater management, water purification, heat mitigation, and habitat provision. However, current BGI designs prioritize engineering goals, overlooking its ecological potential. Here we advocate for integrating engineering and ecological objectives into BGI design to enhance performance and biodiversity. Through an interdisciplinary literature review, we emphasize the importance of species diversity, abundance, and ecological processes, to improve engineering performance and resilience, and lower management costs. We emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to navigate trade-offs between engineering and ecological objectives, ultimately enabling us to engineer both for and with biodiversity.","PeriodicalId":74322,"journal":{"name":"npj urban sustainability","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-024-00163-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140639678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-22DOI: 10.1038/s42949-024-00162-z
Kejing Zhou, Fanhua Kong, Haiwei Yin, Georgia Destouni, Michael E. Meadows, Erik Andersson, Liding Chen, Bin Chen, Zhenya Li, Jie Su
A growing number of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) has been advocated for urban flood risk management (FRM). However, whether NbS for FRM (NbS-FRM) achieves both social and ecological co-benefits remains largely unknown. We here propose and use a conceptual framework with a coupled social-ecological perspective to explore and identify such “win-win” potential in NbS-FRM. Through a scoping-review we find that ecological FRM measures are unevenly distributed around the world, and those solely targeting flood mitigation may have unintended negative consequences for society and ecosystems. In elaborating this framework with evidence from the reviewed studies, we find that NbS-FRM has the potential to provide both social and ecological co-benefits, with remaining gaps including a lack of resilience thinking, inadequate consideration of environmental changes, and limited collaborative efforts to manage trade-offs. The proposed framework shows how to move forward to leverage NbS for equitable and sustainable FRM with improved human well-being and ecosystem health.
{"title":"Urban flood risk management needs nature-based solutions: a coupled social-ecological system perspective","authors":"Kejing Zhou, Fanhua Kong, Haiwei Yin, Georgia Destouni, Michael E. Meadows, Erik Andersson, Liding Chen, Bin Chen, Zhenya Li, Jie Su","doi":"10.1038/s42949-024-00162-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42949-024-00162-z","url":null,"abstract":"A growing number of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) has been advocated for urban flood risk management (FRM). However, whether NbS for FRM (NbS-FRM) achieves both social and ecological co-benefits remains largely unknown. We here propose and use a conceptual framework with a coupled social-ecological perspective to explore and identify such “win-win” potential in NbS-FRM. Through a scoping-review we find that ecological FRM measures are unevenly distributed around the world, and those solely targeting flood mitigation may have unintended negative consequences for society and ecosystems. In elaborating this framework with evidence from the reviewed studies, we find that NbS-FRM has the potential to provide both social and ecological co-benefits, with remaining gaps including a lack of resilience thinking, inadequate consideration of environmental changes, and limited collaborative efforts to manage trade-offs. The proposed framework shows how to move forward to leverage NbS for equitable and sustainable FRM with improved human well-being and ecosystem health.","PeriodicalId":74322,"journal":{"name":"npj urban sustainability","volume":" ","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-024-00162-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140632098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-10DOI: 10.1038/s42949-024-00160-1
Florian A. Schneider, Erin Epel, Ariane Middel
{"title":"Author Correction: A disconnect in science and practitioner perspectives on heat mitigation","authors":"Florian A. Schneider, Erin Epel, Ariane Middel","doi":"10.1038/s42949-024-00160-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42949-024-00160-1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":74322,"journal":{"name":"npj urban sustainability","volume":" ","pages":"1-1"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-024-00160-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140544611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-08DOI: 10.1038/s42949-024-00150-3
Robert I. McDonald, Tanushree Biswas, T. C. Chakraborty, Timm Kroeger, Susan C. Cook-Patton, Joseph E. Fargione
Excessive heat is a major and growing risk for urban residents. Here, we estimate the inequality in summertime heat-related mortality, morbidity, and electricity consumption across 5723 US municipalities and other places, housing 180 million people during the 2020 census. On average, trees in majority non-Hispanic white neighborhoods cool the air by 0.19 ± 0.05 °C more than in POC neighborhoods, leading annually to trees in white neighborhoods helping prevent 190 ± 139 more deaths, 30,131 ± 10,406 more doctors’ visits, and 1.4 ± 0.5 terawatt-hours (TWhr) more electricity consumption than in POC neighborhoods. We estimate that an ambitious reforestation program would require 1.2 billion trees and reduce population-weighted average summer temperatures by an additional 0.38 ± 0.01 °C. This temperature reduction would reduce annual heat-related mortality by an additional 464 ± 89 people, annual heat-related morbidity by 80,785 ± 6110 cases, and annual electricity consumption by 4.3 ± 0.2 TWhr, while increasing annual carbon sequestration in trees by 23.7 ± 1.2 MtCO2e yr−1 and decreasing annual electricity-related GHG emissions by 2.1 ± 0.2 MtCO2e yr−1. The total economic value of these benefits, including the value of carbon sequestration and avoided emissions, would be USD 9.6 ± 0.5 billion, although in many neighborhoods the cost of planting and maintaining trees to achieve this increased tree cover would exceed these benefits. The exception is areas that currently have less tree cover, often the majority POC, which tend to have a relatively high return on investment from tree planting.
{"title":"Current inequality and future potential of US urban tree cover for reducing heat-related health impacts","authors":"Robert I. McDonald, Tanushree Biswas, T. C. Chakraborty, Timm Kroeger, Susan C. Cook-Patton, Joseph E. Fargione","doi":"10.1038/s42949-024-00150-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42949-024-00150-3","url":null,"abstract":"Excessive heat is a major and growing risk for urban residents. Here, we estimate the inequality in summertime heat-related mortality, morbidity, and electricity consumption across 5723 US municipalities and other places, housing 180 million people during the 2020 census. On average, trees in majority non-Hispanic white neighborhoods cool the air by 0.19 ± 0.05 °C more than in POC neighborhoods, leading annually to trees in white neighborhoods helping prevent 190 ± 139 more deaths, 30,131 ± 10,406 more doctors’ visits, and 1.4 ± 0.5 terawatt-hours (TWhr) more electricity consumption than in POC neighborhoods. We estimate that an ambitious reforestation program would require 1.2 billion trees and reduce population-weighted average summer temperatures by an additional 0.38 ± 0.01 °C. This temperature reduction would reduce annual heat-related mortality by an additional 464 ± 89 people, annual heat-related morbidity by 80,785 ± 6110 cases, and annual electricity consumption by 4.3 ± 0.2 TWhr, while increasing annual carbon sequestration in trees by 23.7 ± 1.2 MtCO2e yr−1 and decreasing annual electricity-related GHG emissions by 2.1 ± 0.2 MtCO2e yr−1. The total economic value of these benefits, including the value of carbon sequestration and avoided emissions, would be USD 9.6 ± 0.5 billion, although in many neighborhoods the cost of planting and maintaining trees to achieve this increased tree cover would exceed these benefits. The exception is areas that currently have less tree cover, often the majority POC, which tend to have a relatively high return on investment from tree planting.","PeriodicalId":74322,"journal":{"name":"npj urban sustainability","volume":" ","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-024-00150-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140538018","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}