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Smart urban planning needs to have a multicriteria-based approach to prevent the deteriorating local thermal climate. Maximizing the cooling potential using the available grey infrastructure would be the utmost priority of future smart cities. Remote sensing and GIS can be the appropriate tools to develop a climate-resilient urban planning framework. Studies are needed to include different features of vertical and horizontal landscaping to mitigate heat stress and enhance liveability at the city level. With this goal, the current work outlined a holistic approach to efficiently using green spaces with minimal reconstruction. The problem of regional climate threat was evaluated with urban heat island characterization. Moran's I clustering identified nearly 12% of the study area to be under considerable heat stress during summer days. Multiple techniques, such as mapping local climate zones, segment mean shift-based roof extraction, vegetation index computation, solar azimuth-based green wall site selection, etc., were applied to formulate solutions and provide an integrated method for city-level environment enhancement. A considerable area was identified as most suitable for green roof cover, and it was also computed that the transition towards green roof at only these locations may bring down the maximum heat island intensity by 0.74 °C. Additionally, solar zenith, illumination effect, and building height information were combined to create a distinct method where vertical plantation would flourish exceptionally. A rigorous assessment of more than 130 urban green spaces further quantified the relation between landscape geometry and cooling effect to provide optimum green space designs for future urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across Ontario, Canada, there are over 30 000 km of transmission line corridors. With proper planning and ongoing maintenance and monitoring, these corridors have the potential to be transformed into native meadow, offering vital pathways connecting natural heritage systems and supporting wildlife movement, while promoting biodiversity, natural functions, and ecosystem health. In 2019, seeding trials were established in the Gatineau Hydro Corridor in east Toronto where a long-term meadow creation project (The Meadoway) is ongoing, to evaluate the effectiveness of herbicide treatment (glyphosate), sowing method, and sowing season on seeding success with the goal of informing site-specific meadow creation techniques. Seed mixes included a variety of native grasses and forbs and were dominated by copper savannah grass (Sorghastrum nutans), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and switch grass (Panicum virgatum). Overall, fall or winter seeding with herbicide led to the highest seeding success. There was no difference in the effectiveness of hand seeding or using the seed drill. The results of this work provide valuable insights into effective seeding techniques to improve seeding success and also highlight the benefits of in situ experimentation to inform meadow creation techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green space (UGS) is a crucial physical area that supports the functioning of urban ecosystems, and its changes affect urban ecological balance. In order to accurately analyze the dynamic processes and transfer targets of UGS during urbanization, this study proposes a new method of UGS assessment based on multi-temporal Landsat remote sensing data. This method is integrated with intensity analysis and landscape pattern indices so as to explore the spatio-temporal dynamics of the evolution process, landscape pattern, and driving forces of UGS from 2000 to 2022 in the resource-based city of Taiyuan in central China. The results of the case study show that rapid urbanization brought about a continuous reduction in UGS in the study area, but the trend of decreasing gradually slowed down; UGS patches have become more dispersed and isolated, bare land has been targeted for both gains and losses of UGS, and ecological restoration of bare land mitigated the rapid reduction of UGS. The results of this study not only confirm the applicability of this methodology for monitoring and assessing the evolution of UGS, but also reveal the identification of the targeting or avoidance of other categories during the conversion of UGS. Thus, the potential factors influencing changes in UGS can be analyzed to guide and safeguard sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities worldwide are taking action to increase the amount and quality of urban green spaces. However, not all efforts for the greening of cities produce just and inclusive outcomes. For more inclusive urban greening processes, scholars have proposed incentivizing residents’ participation in planning and implementing green initiatives that promote creating and maintaining green spaces. However, further in-depth analysis of the connection between implementing new urban green spaces and environmental (in)justice is needed to understand how unjust outcomes might emerge due to policies aiming to promote the uptake of urban green through citizen engagement. To investigate the justice implications of policies that aim to create new urban green spaces through citizen participation, this article combines GIS analysis and qualitative analysis of 26 semi-structured interviews to evaluate the process and outcomes of the Green Agenda policy in Amsterdam. The Green Agenda (Agenda Groen) is a municipal policy supporting citizens’ initiatives to uptake urban green. Through the analysis of this case study, the article aims to identify factors that create barriers to achieving just outcomes during the implementation of policies for urban greening. Results indicate that although the approach has successfully increased the amount of urban green in Amsterdam, the presence of barriers that impede procedural justice and lack of recognition made the urban greening process less just. The three underlying factors that create barriers in Amsterdam are the centralization of the government, the lack of support for local organizations, and the effect of socioeconomic characteristics on inclusion and participation. The article concludes by discussing the synergies and tradeoffs between identified barriers and suggesting solutions to be integrated into future policies for more successful and just greening processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societal Impact Statement Summary The strangler fig is known for its hemiepiphytic growth form and conspicuous strangling behavior in the tropics worldwide. It also plays an important role in providing ecological functions in tropical urban ecosystems. This study reveals strangler figs tend to colonize large trees with suitable microsites in a large tropical botanical garden and cause some negative effects on their hosts. We advocate balanced management strategies considering ecological functions, potential risks, and overall values of stranglers and their hosts. These results provide a scientific basis for us to develop better practices for plant management in urban green spaces (especially botanical gardens with high plant biodiversity) in tropical urban ecosystems. Strangler figs colonize trees in tropical cities, which contribute to a unique urban ecology and enrich local ecological functions. Understanding ecological associations between strangler figs and their host trees can improve green space management in tropical urban ecosystems. We investigated 9282 trees growing in the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden and then analyzed the diversity, characteristics, and network of strangler figs and their host trees. We found 13 strangler fig species (319 individuals) widely colonized 67 host species, with palm hosts bearing 52% of all strangler individuals. Strangler figs had a high colonization rate in large trees with appropriate microsites (e.g., persistent palm petioles and the fork of mature trees with rough trunks). Leaf nitrogen and phosphorus content of hosts decreased significantly after strangler figs' aerial roots had entered the ground. The strangler–host network was characterized by relatively high specialization and low nestedness, and simulated management of strangler figs on large hosts and palm hosts could simplify the strangler–host network. Strangler fig colonization can be managed. Planting trees with large diameters at breast height and rough bark can increase the colonization of stranglers, while cutting off aerial roots can inhibit their establishment. The epiphytic stage is the best time to manage strangler figs. We recommend taking into consideration the trade‐offs among ecological functioning, human safety, and the multifaceted value of strangler figs and their host trees and thereby implementing comprehensive management strategies tailored to different contexts for improving green space management in the tropics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant communities are impacted by local factors (related to environmental filtering) and landscape factors (related to dispersal limitation). While many studies have shown that the relative importance of these factors in understanding plant community dynamics due to urbanization, little is known about how they are altered by urbanization—a significant threat to biodiversity. This study evaluates the relative importance of local environmental (local factors), landscape, and spatial (landscape factors) variables that influence plant communities in 34 urban green spaces comprising two different habitats (forests and grasslands) along the urban–rural gradients in the Tokyo megacity, Japan. To continuously assess the relative importance of each factor along the urban–rural gradients, we extracted 1000 landscapes within a certain range that contained several sites. Subsequently, the relative importance of each factor and urbanization rate (proportion of artificial built‐up area) were estimated for each landscape. Our study found that the relative importance of both local and landscape factors decreased, while that of local factor for native species in forest habitats and that of landscape factors for native species in grassland habitats increased. Collectively, these findings suggest that city size and habitat characteristics must be considered when predicting changes in plant communities caused by urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Illness is a significant global societal issue in the 21st century. Forest, as an important part of terrestrial ecosystem, holds substantial health and well-being benefits. People can gain health benefits from interacting with forests, even for short periods. Unfortunately, there is a lack of systematic concern regarding the beneficial elements that forest provides to humans. In this study, a systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted following established guidelines, comprehensively evaluating the beneficial elements of the forest environment. The results indicated that the beneficial forest elements relevant to human health include beneficial substances (clean air, high-quality freshwater, CO2/O2 balance, negative air ions, and phytoncides) and beneficial factors (moderate thermal environment and biodiversity). These beneficial forest elements are products of plant's physiological processes. While their production pathways are relatively well understood, the mechanisms by which these elements impact health are unclear. This review provided the foundational data and theoretical insights for future research on the health benefits of forest elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the response of the ecological well–being to ecosystem services of urban green space is imperative for urban ecosystem conservation and management. However, few studies have focused on the response process and spatial relationship of ecological well–being to ecosystem services of urban green space in mega cities, while residents' demand and evaluation of ecological well–being have not been fully considered. In this study, the ecological well–being evaluation index system was developed through integrating subjective and objective indicators. Using the main urban area of Beijing as an example, our results indicate that from 2015 to 2023, the ecological well–being has been continuously increasing. Moreover, this study indicated that the coupling and coordination degree between ecological well–being and ecosystem services of urban green space still need to be improved. In addition, three modes of spatial relationship were identified in this study: high coordination area, moderate coordination area, and low coordination area. The finding extracted from these spatial relationship models should provide references for urban green space planning to maintain sustainable urban ecosystem conservation and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green spaces play a critical role in enhancing the urban environment, improving livability, and providing essential ecosystem services. A city should have at least 25% green space from an environmental and health point of view. However, quantitative estimation is required to assess the extent and pattern of green space changes for proper urban management. The present study aimed to identify and track the changes in urban green spaces within the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) of Bangladesh over a 30-year period (i.e., 1991–2021). Geospatial techniques were utilized to analyze green space dynamics using Landsat 4–5 TM satellite images from 1991, 2001, and 2011 and Landsat 8 images from 2021. Supervised image classification techniques and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis were performed to assess the urban green space dynamics in DSCC. The results of our study revealed a significant 36.5% reduction in vegetation cover in the DSCC area over the study period. In 1991, the green area coverage in DSCC was 46%, indicating a relatively healthy environment. By 2001, this coverage had declined sharply to 21.3%, further decreasing to 19.7% in 2011, and reaching a low of just 9.5% in 2021. The classified maps generated in the study were validated through field observations and Google Earth images. The outcomes of our study will be helpful for policymakers and city planners in developing and applying appropriate policies and plans to preserve and improve urban green spaces in DSCC in Bangladesh and other Asian megacities with high population density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban greening is a major goal in policies for sustainable cities, and spatial planners are nowadays strongly interested in the benefits of greenspace for the well-being of urban residents. We present a novel, model-based approach to support the development of effective greening strategies. The approach is quantitative and spatially explicit and accounts for multiple health benefits as well as burdens. In our study, we applied this generic approach to the city of Maastricht (The Netherlands) and conducted an integrated, city-scale assessment of the health benefits and burdens of four urban greenspace designs. These included: 'No greenspace', 'Current greenspace', 'Green parking lots and squares', and 'Optimized greenspace locations'. For each greenspace design, indicator values were calculated for five determinants of health and well-being: heat stress, air pollution, perceived unsafety, unattractive views, and tick-bite risk. To assess the health contribution of urban greenspace in a given design, these indicator values were compared with the values in the 'No greenspace' design. The study produced clear, quantitative conclusions about the health benefits and burdens of the urban greenspace designs for the case of Maastricht but also generated novel, more general insights relevant to the planning of urban greenspace for health and well-being. These insights concern the importance of translating health policy objectives into specific target values or thresholds and the importance of 'smart' choices in greenspace type and location that can effectively reduce trade-offs between health benefits and burdens, as well as the insights that adding more greenery not always improves urban health and that urban greenspace alone cannot solve major air pollution problems. The priorities for future research, which will address the limitations of the presented approach, concern a further expansion of the range of health benefits and burdens covered by the model and the development of a common metric for the entire range of health benefits and burdens to optimize greenspace design and maximize its overall net health benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green space can effectively alleviate air pollution, in which vegetation structure plays an important role. However, these green spaces with varying vegetation structures exist in different environmental backgrounds of the city. By analyzing the influence of the different environmental backgrounds on the dust retention effect of green spaces with varying vegetation structures, green spaces can be truly utilized as a solution in alleviating air pollution. Therefore, according to the typical characteristics of landscape patterns and different coverage ratios of green areas in Xi'an city, China, the matrices of urban landscape were divided into three types, which include "green space", "grey-green mixed space" and "gray space." In each environmental background, urban green space was divided into three levels: horizontal structure, species composition and vertical structure. Subsequently, 13 types of green spaces with different vegetation structures and three hard (no vegetation present) squares as control groups were selected. A one-year on-site monitoring was conducted on urban green spaces and concentrations of TSP, PM10, PM2.5 and PM1. The results showed that: (1) In the green space, the concentrations of PM1 and PM2.5 were relatively higher. In the grey-green mixed space, the average concentration of air particle of all four particle sizes was the lowest. In the gray space, the concentrations of PM10 and TSP were more concentrated. (2) Under the same matrices, due to the different locations of the plots, the concentration of air particles of different sizes was significantly different. Under the different urban environmental backgrounds, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and air pressure all showed the same trend in the change of air particle concentration. (3) The one-layer green space structure was most suitable for planting. Considering the green space, the coniferous one-layered green space (CO) structure was recommended. The partly-closed broad-leaved one-layered green space (P-CBO) was found to be more suitable for the grey-green mixed space. Considering the gray space in the city center, it was suggested to plant the closed mixed coniferous and broad-leaved one-layered green space (CMO) structure. The findings provide empirical support for the future collocation of urban green vegetation structure and the improvement of urban air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cities globally, including Tokyo, face challenges in managing small urban green spaces due to limited land, aging infrastructure, and rising maintenance costs. This study explores effective community engagement strategies for park revitalization as cities focus on improving existing green spaces rather than expanding them. Methods: This research investigates community park revitalization in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, using a case study approach involving three parks. Data were collected through interviews with seven park management stakeholders and a survey of 176 residents. The study aimed to identify key factors for successful community participation, evaluate perceptions of engagement activities, and assess residents' willingness to participate. Results: Key factors for effective park revitalization include public buildings inside and outside the parks, sufficient greenery and open spaces, and local responsible persons. Despite these conditions, challenges such as high maintenance costs and low resident engagement persist. Among 176 respondents, 55 had participated in park events. Both genders noted increased use by parents and children and enhanced motivation to visit as significant impacts, with mean ratings of 4.36 and 4.37, respectively. Age differences were observed: respondents aged 18-39 emphasized increased use by parents and children (mean 4.75), while those aged 40-59 and over 60 valued motivation to visit (means 4.64 and 4.00). Long-term residents (over 10 years) reported lower impact ratings than newer residents, and larger families rated activities more positively than smaller or single-person households. Key issues included insufficient publicity (60%), restriction of normal use (20%), increased waste (14.5%), and noise (12.7%). Discussion: The study highlights the need to address demographic differences in engagement preferences and barriers. Tailoring activities to diverse groups, including seniors and single-person households, can improve participation and effectiveness. These findings can guide localized park management strategies and foster more inclusive urban green space initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape colour influences people's visual behaviour and preferences. Insufficient exploration has been conducted on people's colour perception when walking through urban green spaces (UGSs) dominated by green in summer. This study used eye-tracking technology to explore the differences between the visual attention colour (VAC) and space colour (SC), and the effect of spatial form on VAC. Participants were asked to view six walking spaces in two UGSs in Nanjing, China. The results indicated that SC and VAC had correlations in hue variance (yellow), saturation mean, and value variance, but weak correlations in hue mean (green), hue variance (green), and value mean. Additionally, the higher the spatial openness, the more reduction in brightness of the VAC compared to SC. The findings suggest that landscape visual perception studies need to consider the interaction between landscape colour, spatial form, and human top-down visual behaviour to support the design of UGSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green space (UGS) benefits residents and has become essential in promoting sustainable urban development. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations in 2015 proposed 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), pointing out the direction for future sustainable development. The construction of UGS is of great significance for realising the SDGs. This article aims to evaluate the impact of the SDGs proposal on the concept of urban green space. To this end, we applied the VOSviewer bibliometric analysis tool to analyse the relevant literature data in the Scopus database, revealing the intrinsic connection between UGS and the SDGs. It was found that keywords such as sustainable development, sustainability and human ranked highly in the literature in both fields. In addition, keywords such as urban area, urbanisation, biodiversity, and ecosystems appear in both fields but with slightly different focuses. At the same time, these keywords are missing in the combination of overlapping keywords. This study has important implications for UGS planning, construction, and management practices to maximise the synergy between UGS and the SDGs and promote sustainable urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the spatial interaction among residents, cooling service, and heat risk area in complex urban areas is conducive to developing targeted management. However, traditional urban thermal environment assessments typically relied on simple linear integration of associated indicators, often neglecting the spatial interaction effect. To explore the spatial interaction among the three elements, this study proposes an accessibility-based urban thermal environment assessment framework. Using Zhengzhou, a rapidly urbanizing city, as an example, remotely sensed images from three periods (2010, 2015 and 2020) were applied to extract urban green space (UGS) and hot island area (HIA). An improved two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method and bivariate local Moran’s I were employed to explore whether residents’ clustering locations are more likely to access cooling service or to be exposed to heat risk. The results demonstrate that the UGS in the city has been expanding, whereas the HIA shrank within the inner city in 2015 and then increased in 2020. Even though the urban thermal environment may have improved in the last decade, the spatial interaction among the residents, cooling service and heat risk area could be exacerbated. Spatial autocorrelation shows an increase in locations that are disadvantageous for resident congregation. Even when sufficient cooling services were provided, residents in these areas could still be exposed to high heat risk. The developed urban thermal environment framework provides a novel insight into the residents’ heat risk exposure and cooling service accessibility, and the findings could assist urban planners in targeting the improvement of extra heat exposure risk locations.

Urban green spaces, despite their recognized importance for sustainable urban development, face significant challenges to their resilience and viability due to rapid urbanization and various associated pressures. The scientific problem addressed in this paper is the vulnerability of urban green spaces to various stressors, including proximity to settlement, land use and land cover changes, and proximity to roads, among others. Despite their importance, there is a lack of comprehensive assessments and frameworks to systematically evaluate and address this vulnerability. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap by employing a multi-criteria decision-making framework, namely the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) framework. By analyzing 10 indicators related to urban green space vulnerability through a pairwise comparison matrix, the study identifies critical factors influencing vulnerability and categorizes urban green spaces into different susceptibility levels. Additionally, the research extends its analysis to future scenario development for the years 2030 and 2040, using a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) based Markov Chain model, incorporating various parameters such as distances from built-up areas, roads, rails, streams, slopes, and elevation. Through these methodologies, the study aims to provide valuable insights to urban planners, policymakers, and environmental practitioners, enabling them to make informed decisions to enhance the resilience and sustainability of urban green spaces and urban areas as a whole.

Both the physical features and social functions of urban green spaces (UGSs) are crucially important to the ecological and social benefits of urban residents. Increasing attention has been focused on exploring how UGS social functions affect the ecological and social benefits of urban residents, but the social functional classification of UGSs has rarely been studied, and related efficient classification methods are urgently needed. Thus, a novel methodological framework for accurately mapping UGS social functional zones was proposed by integrating remote sensing images, crowd-sourced geospatial data (i.e. point of interest data, the OpenStreetMap road network, and Baidu Map boundary), and a deep learning algorithm. A sequence of combination experiments and ablation experiments were designed for performance validation and for quantifying the contributions of individual crowd-sourced geospatial data to UGS social functional classification. The results showed that the proposed methodological framework can precisely and effectively map UGS social functional zones and that all kinds of crowd-sourced geospatial data contributed to improving the accuracy of UGS social functional classification. This study can assist planners and government departments in the rapid monitoring, effective management, and scientific planning of UGS social functional zones by providing accurate data sources and an effective mapping tool.

In urban green space (UGS), diverse acoustic resources are essential for enhancing the public's well-being, as different sound sources can bring distinct auditory experiences. However, there is a lack of research on the sources-based soundscapes diversity (SSD). In this study, we fill this gap by exploring the characteristics of SSD in different recreational areas of UGSs across three urban gradients in Fuzhou City, China. Additionally, we investigated the relationship between SSD, landscape elements (LEs), and landscape patterns (LPs) at various spatial scales. Our findings identified 53 types of sound sources, predominantly biological sound and anthrophony. The alpha and beta diversity indices effectively characterized SSD in UGSs and captured the differences in three levels of urbanization. Our results showed that urbanization gradients significantly impact soundscape diversity, especially in terms of animal sounds and mechanical sounds. For LEs, we found that trees play a crucial role in enhancing the diversity of animal and recreation sounds, whereas the proportion of buildings negatively correlates with animal sounds. Our analysis between LPs and SSDs revealed a strong correlation between the built environment (mainly roads) and lawn with traffic sound. In contrast, a higher percentage of forest land was associated with more animal sounds and fewer recreational and mechanical sounds. Characterizing urbanization gradients and the factors affecting SSD can be used to guide the development and enhancement of soundscapes in UGS. Highlights: The urban green space in different urban gradients and green space types have varying soundscape diversity characteristics. Urbanization mainly affects animal sounds and mechanical sounds. Trees play a crucial role in enhancing the diversity of animal and recreational sounds. Built environment (mainly roads) and lawn ratio significantly correlates with traffic sounds, while the percentage of forest land attracts more animal sounds and weakens recreational and mechanical sounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The benefits of urban green space are socially widely recognized as a direct link between plant–microbe interactions and the maintenance of biodiversity, community stability, and ecosystem functioning. Nevertheless, there is a lack of knowledge about the factors influencing microbial communities in urban green spaces, especially those related to phyllosphere epiphytes and stem epiphytes. In this study, we analyzed the microbial community assembly in leaf and stem bark samples collected from Square, Road, Campus, and Park. Illumina sequecing of 16S amplicons was performed to characterize microbial diversity and composition. The α-diversity was significantly higher in the bark epiphytic community, compared to the phyllosphere. Moreover, urban greenspaces'type altered the way communities gathered. The main soil and air properties factors of the urban greenhouse (e.g. soil temperature, atmospheric moisture, air temperature) were shaping the characteristics of bacterial communities on the leaf surface and bark epiphytic. In addition, in the co-occurrence network analysis, keystone taxa were not mostly observed in abundant species, which may be necessary to maintain ecosystem functions. Finally, our findings provide a deeper understanding of the ecological dynamics and microbial interactions within plant phyllosphere and stem epiphytes microbiomes.

Abstract This paper analyzed the role of national economic factors, in addition to some key city-level variables, in the variation of the urban green space (UGS) in Mashhad City (Iran) during three decades (1998–2018). The correlation result revealed the effects of the increasing trend of land price, population rate, and construction of built-up areas in the decreasing trend of UGS in the study area (R from − 0.95 to -0.99 at p-value > 95%). Also, the country-level economic factors, i.e., GDP per capita, oil price, export total value, and FDI, represented the overall increasing trend from 1988 to 2018, correlating with the decrease of green space areas (R from − 0.76 to -0.92 at p-value > 75%). Some statistical analyses, such as the run-test, the skewness and kurtosis tests, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and the ANOVA test were done to confirm the normality of the data distribution and reliability of the results. Ultimately, clustering the research variables based on the significance and confidence levels of the estimated correlation results revealed that the change in the oil price and national export values in the petroleum-dependent economy of Iran can be assumed as the lead key economic factors to fluctuate all city-level variables, particularly the UGS variations.

The benefits of urban green space are socially widely recognized as a direct link between plant–microbe interactions and the maintenance of biodiversity, community stability, and ecosystem functioning. Nevertheless, there is a lack of knowledge about the factors influencing microbial communities in urban green spaces, especially those related to phyllosphere epiphytes and stem epiphytes. In this study, we analyzed the microbial community assembly in leaf and stem bark samples collected from Square, Road, Campus, and Park. Illumina sequecing of 16S amplicons was performed to characterize microbial diversity and composition. The α-diversity was significantly higher in the bark epiphytic community, compared to the phyllosphere. Moreover, urban greenspaces'type altered the way communities gathered. The main soil and air properties factors of the urban greenhouse (e.g. soil temperature, atmospheric moisture, air temperature) were shaping the characteristics of bacterial communities on the leaf surface and bark epiphytic. In addition, in the co-occurrence network analysis, keystone taxa were not mostly observed in abundant species, which may be necessary to maintain ecosystem functions. Finally, our findings provide a deeper understanding of the ecological dynamics and microbial interactions within plant phyllosphere and stem epiphytes microbiomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green spaces are an indispensable part of the ecology of cities, serving as the city's "purifier" and playing a crucial role in promoting sustainable urban development. Therefore, the refined classification of urban green spaces is an important task in urban planning and management. Traditional methods for the refined classification of urban green spaces heavily rely on expert knowledge, often requiring substantial time and cost. Hence, our study presents a multi-label image classification model based on MobileViT. This model integrates the Triplet Attention module, along with the LSTM module, to enhance its label prediction capabilities while maintaining its lightweight characteristic for standalone operation on mobile devices. Trial outcomes in our UGS dataset in this study demonstrate that the approach we used outperforms the baseline by 1.64%, 3.25%, 3.67%, and 2.71% in m A P , F 1 , p r e c i s i o n , and r e c a l l , respectively. This indicates that the model can uncover the latent dependencies among labels to enhance the multi-label image classification device's performance. This study provides a practical solution for the intelligent and detailed classification of urban green spaces, which holds significant importance for the management and planning of urban green spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study established a planning framework for effective small‐scale urban wetland restoration by adapting an analytical template used for watershed‐scale projects. We evaluated the optimal water ponding scale and location for small urban wetland restoration. We calculated the achievable water ponding area in Oyama Wetland, Hokkaido, Japan, by the use of an artificial water supply and elevation differences without reliance on precipitation. The volume of infiltration into the sediments, a component of the water balance equation, was estimated during a temporary suspension of the artificial water supply, and the estimate was then validated by modeling the decrease of the water ponding area from 2008, before the introduction of the artificial water supply, with high reproducibility (Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency = 0.68). The estimated attainable water ponding area was 1172 m2. We identified where a water ponding location could be most efficiently established through principal component and cluster analyses of groundwater level observation data collected from 2008 to 2010. Areas with high groundwater levels (first axis) and stable groundwater levels (second axis) accounted for approximately 73% of the cumulative contribution ratio. The calculated potentially achievable ponding area was consistent with the area achieved by the actual wetland restoration. This study shows how efficient and safe restoration of urban wetlands can be achieved with a dataset that volunteers and others can obtain independently. Long‐term data analysis using the adapted template allows for clear identification of discrepancies between desired reference conditions and current conditions, facilitating the setting of objectives that promote long‐term monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Expansion of urban green space (UGS) enhances greenery and its benefits in cities. However, the impacts of such expansions on regional landscape sustainability and their spatiotemporal traits across the national scale remain unclear. Objectives: This study uncovers a trade-off between agricultural ecosystem services and urban human well-being—the loss of grain production due to UGS expansion consuming cropland—in China from 2000 to 2020. It proposes a safety boundary for UGS expansion to minimize the costs of grain production while addressing the escalating demand for UGS exposure. Methods: UGS expansion and cropland loss are quantified using land cover products, with statistical data contributing to the established relationship between grain loss and UGS coverage. UGS expansion scenarios for 2040 are simulated through bottom-up modeling. Results: Quadrupled UGS area growth contributed approximately one-third to urban expansion during 2000–2020 in China. Despite improvements in per capita UGS area implying enhanced UGS exposure during rapid urbanization, UGS expansion resulted in a national grain production loss of 4.2 ± 1.4 million t from 2000 to 2020, accelerating post-2010. This loss is equivalent to the annual food intake of 9.3 million Chinese people. We propose a 30.87% UGS coverage target in China by 2040 to preserve UGS access while minimizing grain loss under future urbanization. Conclusions: Acknowledging the critical role of UGS expansion in the issue of cropland loss to urbanization is imperative. Our results offer insights into ensuring human well-being and ecosystem services through landscape and urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development and widespread adoption of smart machines, researchers across various disciplines and fields are exploring the contributions of computers and intelligent machines to human science and society through interdisciplinary collaboration. In this study, we investigated the potential applications of artificial intelligence and multi-source big data in the selection and design of urban greenways, using the city of Nanjing as a case study. Utilizing computer vision technology and the DeepLabV3+ neural network model, we analyzed over 320,000 street view images and 530,000 fine-grained urban data points from Nanjing. We also trained the place space material quantification model using the Street Space Greening Structure (S.S.G.S) dataset. This dataset not only achieved high-precision semantic segmentation but also surpassed previous datasets in predicting greenery at the street level. The performance metrics for this model are as follows: MIoU is 0.6344, Recall is 0.7287, and Precision is 0.8074. Through Robust regression, we identified several micro and macro-level factors influencing the Panoramic View Green View Index (PVGVI). The results indicate that multiple factors have significant positive or negative effects on PVGVI. This research not only provides new decision-making tools for landscape architecture and urban planning but also opens new avenues for applying artificial intelligence in urban environmental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative measurement of urban green spaces (UGSs) plays a fundamental role in enhancing their ecological functions and services. Current studies have not adequately analyzed the multifunctional characteristics and the diverse benefits of urban green spaces at the national scale. This study developed a multidimensional indicator system in terms of scale, pattern, and services to measure green spaces in 285 prefecture-level cities in China. The influences of different geographic zones and urban development on UGS characteristics were also investigated. The results showed that per capita area of urban green spaces were significantly different between the two sides of the "Botai Line", and the UGS structure was mainly dominated by woodlands. Urban green spaces in the central and east had higher fragmentation, lower landscape diversity, and weaker connectivity. The spatial accessibility of green spaces exhibited a "low–high–medium" pattern from north to south in China, with central-eastern China experiencing the worst equity in green space supply. Overall, cities with higher integrated benefits of green spaces were mainly located in Northeast and North China. Type I large cities had higher ratings for UGS characteristics compared with the other types of cities. These findings can serve as solid guidance for cities seeking to build green space systems with highly integrated socio–ecological benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green space is needed in urban areas to increase resilience to climate change and other shocks, as well as for human health and wellbeing. Urban green space (UGS) is increasingly considered as green infrastructure and highly complementary to engineered urban infrastructure, such as water and transport networks. The needs for resilient, sustainable and equitable future wellbeing require strategic planning, designing and upgrading of UGS, especially in areas where it has been underprovided. We explore the implications of these needs for urban development through a detailed review of cited UGS analyses conducted on the larger cities in Aotearoa New Zealand (AoNZ). There are important differences in UGS availability (i.e., quantity), accessibility and quality within and between cities. Some of these differences stem from ad hoc patterns of development, as well as topography. They contribute to apparently growing inequities in the availability and accessibility of UGS. Broader health and wellbeing considerations, encompassing Indigenous and community values, should be at the heart of UGS design and decisionmaking. Most of AoNZ's cities aim (at least to some extent) at densification and decarbonisation to accommodate a growing population without costly sprawl; however, to date, sprawl continues. Our findings indicate a clear need for the design and provision of high-quality, well-integrated UGS within and servicing areas of denser housing, which are typically areas in cities with a demonstrable UGS deficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution, particularly fine particulate matter (PM2.5), poses a significant health risk, especially in high-density urban areas. Urban green space (UGS) can effectively mitigate this pollution. Despite their potential, strategies for effectively leveraging Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) optimization to combat PM2.5 remain largely unexplored. Ordinary least squares (OLS), geographically weighted regression (GWR) and multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) were employed to investigate the spatial heterogeneity relationship between UGS conversion and PM2.5 fluctuations across various scales and evolutionary stages, developing a multiscale practical framework for LULC synergy in combating air pollution. The areas of UGSs to/from other LULCs, PM2.5 concentrations and corresponding variation zones exhibited significant spatial clustering. These UGS conversions explained more than 65% of the PM2.5 changes in the study area, peaking at 76.4% explanatory power in the fourth stage. Compared to global spatial analysis (OLS: 0–0.48), local spatial regression analysis significantly improved the R2 value (GWR: 0.32–0.75, MGWR: 0.48–0.90), but the fitting quality of local spatial regression analysis decreased with increasing scale, highlighting the importance of scale diagnosis. A 2 km scale was identified as optimal for assessing the spatial heterogeneity impact of UGS and other LULC conversions on PM2.5 changes. Conversion areas from water bodies and bare land to UGSs maintain stable local spatial properties at this scale (bandwidths: 44–99). Our research provides new insights into LULC management and planning, offering a coordinated approach to mitigating urban air pollution. Additionally, a practical framework was established for addressing spatially continuous variables such as PM2.5, revealing effective approaches for addressing urban environmental issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employed machine learning to generate hypotheses about the factors (and their combinations) that induce activities in green spaces in neighborhoods from the perspective of behavioral change. A cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2021 using an online survey in Osaka, Japan (n = 5108). We conducted (1) probabilistic latent semantic analysis (pLSA) to extract latent classes related to activities in green spaces and (2) classification tree analysis with the latent classes as the objective variables. As a result of clustering through pLSA, six latent classes were extracted for activities in green spaces. These classes indicated a gradation of behavioral change stages as follows: (1) difficult access, (2) precontemplation, (3) contemplation, (4) preparation, (5) action–maintenance, and (6) stability. Classification tree analysis indicated that different factors at different behavioral change stages promoted or inhibited activities in green spaces. "Difficult access" was more likely applicable when urban residents lived in neighborhoods where both the built environment and the social environment were undesirable. "Precontemplation" was more likely applicable where urban residents did not have positive perceptions of the effects of green space and social interactions with neighbors. "Contemplation" and "preparation" did not show any growth in the classification tree. "Action–maintenance" was more likely applicable when urban residents engaged in social activities in the neighborhoods. "Stability" was more likely applicable when urban residents had positive perceptions of the effects of green space and social interactions with neighbors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How much green space is available for individuals is a major question that city planners are generally interested in, and the present study aimed to address this issue in the context of Vellore, India, through two approaches, namely, the per capita and the geographical area approach. In existing studies, urban green space (UGS) was only calculated at the macro level, i.e., for the city as a whole. Micro-or ward-level analysis was not attempted before, and the present study carried out the same to get a clear picture of the amount of greenery available in each ward of a city. For this purpose, a two-step approach was proposed where the histograms of Google Earth (GE) images were analyzed first to check whether the green cover types such as trees, shrubs/grassland, and cropland were spectrally different. Then, classification techniques such as ISODATA, maximum likelihood, support vector machine (SVM), and objectbased methods were applied to the GE images. It was found that SVM performed well in extracting different green cover types with the highest overall accuracy of 93% and Kappa coefficient of 0.881. It was found that when considering the city as a whole, the amount of UGS available is 42% of the total area, which is more than the recommended range of 20-40%. Similarly, the available UGS per person is 97.84 m2, which is far above the recommended 12 m2/person. However, the micro-level analysis revealed that some of the wards have not satisfied the criteria of per capita and percentage area, though the city as a whole has satisfied both the criteria. Thus, the results indicate the importance of calculating the urban green space availability at the ward level rather than the city level as the former gives a closer look at the surplus and deficit areas. The results of terrestrial LiDAR survey at individual tree level revealed that if trees are located adjacent to buildings or roads, it results in fewer heat islands compared to the case where there are no trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important part of urban ecosystems, trees can effectively alleviate the urban heat island effect. Tree canopies cool and humidify through shading and evapotranspiration, regulating the urban thermal environment. So far, many studies have analyzed the heat mitigation effect of urban green spaces; however, there are relatively few studies on the cooling effect of tree canopies. Specifically, relevant research focusing on different spatial scales has not been explored. Therefore, this review systematically summarizes the research on the benefits of tree canopy cooling carried out in recent years, analyzes the research content, and evaluates the indicators and key influencing factors of the benefits of tree canopy cooling from four different spatial scales: urban, block, community, and individual. It was found that canopy factors, other vegetation factors, and environmental factors jointly affect the benefits of canopy cooling. This research focuses on the benefits of canopy cooling at different spatial scales. The smaller the research scale, the more discussion and attention will be paid to vegetation factors. This paper puts forward major directions for future research and development, providing optimization strategies for urban planning or plant design at different scales in the context of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the role of urban green space in regulating microclimate and alleviating urban heat island, the green space of the riverside forest park in Shunyi District was taken as the object, and the hard pavement was selected as the control. The air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed of different plant communities were monitored on the spot from March to November 2022, so as to study the improvement effect of microclimate and human comfort among different plant communities. The results show that the cooling effect was the best in spring (2.74 ℃), followed by that in summer (2.05 ℃), and the cooling effect was the most significant before 14:00 in one day. Summer humidification effect was the highest ( 6. 88%), followed by autumn (5. 62%). The effect of wind speed weakening was highest in spring (0.2 m / s), followed by that in summer (0. 07 m / s), and the degree of wind speed weakening was greater in the morning. Spring, summer and autumn can improve human comfort in different degrees, and summer is the highest (1. 54), followed by spring (0. 54). A more comfortable environment can be provided for people all day in summer and from 12:00 to 14:00 in spring and autumn. It can be seen that the optimization and improvement of plant community plays an important role in improving the ecological benefits of urban green space and urban ecological environment. The results can provide reference for the optimization and improvement of plant community structure, operation and management, and citizen leisure travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and aims: The plant species grown in Educational Establishments are diverse, reflecting the customs of the local population. Their presence could contribute to the revaluation of local flora, acting as pedagogical triggers and fulfilling an ornamental function simultaneously. The objectives of this study are to inventory the plant species in recreational spaces of the kindergartens of the Bahía Blanca District and to collect information related to the presence of these species, as well as the general knowledge that managers/teachers have about them. M&M: A floristic census was carried out in recreational spaces of 85 public and private kindergartens. Directors/teachers were surveyed/interviewed to record complementary information about the species and their role in the institution. Results: Two hundred seventy-two species belonging to 86 botanical families were identified. 88% were found to be exotic, and 12% were native, with 1.45% being endemic to Argentina. 100% of all kindergartens that present plants have exotic species, 43% 43% native species and 10% endemic species. The teachers recognize a need for knowledge of the botanical environment and mention an interest in training on the subject. Conclusions: The diversity of plant species in the recreational spaces of kindergartens is high, most of them being exotic. It is important to plan plant species in these institutions so that they can be used as teaching resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Urban green spaces are locations of maximal human activity, forming areas of enhanced risk for tick‐borne disease (TBD) transmission. Being also limited in spatial scale, green spaces form prime targets for control schemes aiming to reduce TBD risk. However, for effective control, the key species maintaining local tick and tick‐borne pathogen (TBP) populations must be identified. To determine how patterns of host utilization vary spatially, we utilized blood meal analysis to study the contributions of voles, shrews, squirrels, leporids and cervids towards blood meals and the acquisition of TBPs of juvenile Ixodes ricinus in urban and sylvatic areas in Finland. Methods and Results: A total of 1084 nymphs were collected from the capital city of Finland, Helsinki and from a sylvatic island in southwestern Finland, and subjected to qPCR analysis to identify DNA remnants of the previous host. We found significant differences in host contributions between urban and sylvatic environments. Specifically, squirrels and leporids were more common hosts in urban habitats, whereas cervids and voles were more common in sylvatic habitats. In addition to providing 18.4% of larval blood meals in urban habitats, red squirrels were identified as the source of 28.6% (n = 48) of Borrelia afzelii detections and 58.1% (n = 18) of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto detections, indicating an important role for local enzootic cycles. Conclusions: Our study highlights that the key hosts maintaining tick and TBP populations may be different in urban and sylvatic habitats. Likewise, hosts generally perceived as important for upkeep may have limited importance in urban environments. Consequently, targeting control schemes based on off‐site data of host importance may lead to suboptimal results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intense work pressure and unhealthy lifestyles significantly threaten urban public health. Urban designs have quickly developed, such as the introduction of green space (GS), which has been suggested to improve public health. Prior epidemiological studies have investigated GS and mortality and have generally found potential benefits. However, these studies were primarily conducted in developed Western countries and the potential effects of GS on mortality in developing Asian countries are poorly understood. In this study, our goal was to investigate the effect of GS landscape attributes and socioeconomic conditions on all-cause mortality in 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration. Nine GS variables and seven socioeconomic variables were collected. An optimal general linear model with the selected variables was established using LASSO regression to explore the direction and relative importance of GSs and socioeconomic conditions for urban public health. The results showed that (1) socioeconomic conditions and GS jointly affect all-cause mortality, (2) people with greater personal wealth suffered less health risk, and (3) regularly shaped and highly connected GSs decreased the risk to public health. These findings suggest that reasonable GS policies and planning strategies are effective approaches for improving public health in Chinese cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas research in Germany has focused mainly on how environmental burdens such as noise or air pollution affect health or well-being, little is known about the effects of environmental goods. Our study examines urban green spaces as one such environmental good, and asks how their usage affected life satisfaction during the coronavirus pandemic. Drawing on attention restoration and stress reduction theory as well as on theories of social integration, we further ask how different kinds of activities such as meeting friends or doing sports mediate the effects of green spaces on life satisfaction. Our empirical analysis builds on unique individual panel data for residents of Hannover and Braunschweig taken from interviews before and during the coronavirus pandemic. Using causal difference-in-difference models, our results reveal no robust effect of increased or decreased green space usage on life satisfaction. However, results depend on the operationalization: Analyses point to a negative effect of reduced green space visits only when green space use is assessed retrospectively. Hence, our study highlights the need for further causality-oriented research on the relationship between green space usage and life satisfaction. Moreover, it stresses the value of performing robustness checks by applying alternative operationalizations in causal analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green spaces play a major role in the congested urban environment, which helps to minimize the ecological imbalance of the urban environment. Urban green spaces help to reduce stress, improve mood, promote physical activity, foster social cohesion, reduce air and water pollution etc. There are no static definitions to explain urban green space and different countries define urban green space based on the availability of their green resources. In Sri Lanka also no clear definition of urban green space. Colombo District of Sri Lanka is a highly urbanized and populated district, so land demand is very high for various uses of built-up areas. As a result, existing green spaces are depleting and it needs to emphasize strategic planning and management. However Sri Lanka does not have a standardized definition of green space, and it is one of the major obstacles to developing land use planning in the urban areas related to green spaces. This study aims to formulate an informative definition of green space for the Colombo District through the review of global and local definitions, followed by thematic analysis and expert validation. The proposed definition describes green spaces as natural and man-made vegetated areas in diverse landscapes that fulfil multifunctional roles, enhancing environmental quality and community well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green spaces (UGS) are a cost-effective solution to overcome various problems faced by cities worldwide, such as air pollution, urban microclimate change, and pressure in urban life by providing diverse ecosystem services (ESS). Green space planning is increasingly focused on increasing UGS in cities. However, these strategies may not receive widespread public support because managers' expected values and people's perceptions may not be the same. Therefore, this study aims to investigate public awareness of ESS provided by UGS, the relationships between UGS and ESS and ESS with each other, as well as the influences of sociodemographic characteristics on people's perceptions in Bangkok metropolis. The research findings revealed highly consistent perceptions of different UGS, especially for public parks and residential gardens, against rooftops and household gardens. These are also the UGS generating the most diverse ESS, especially regulating and cultural ESS. Air quality regulating services (CO2 absorption, air pollutant purification, and temperature reduction) and cultural services (spiritual values, aesthetics, and health improvement) are the most crucial ESS of UGS perceived by entire urban residents. This research also reveals that cognitive differences come from differences in demographic characteristics. People with lower awareness of UGS and ESS are often low-income and younger, who frequently live far from UGS leading to low accessibility to UGS. The research also draws critical implications regarding UGS categories, ecosystem services and disservices of interest, and the population groups that need to be encouraged during the greening campaigns. This will be important information for the city government to achieve successful implementation of the "Green Bangkok 2030" project, which aims to further improve UGS and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a highly concentrated residential area, urban development and population concentration have caused serious environmental pollution problems that threaten the safety of the water and atmospheric resources that humans rely on for survival. To address this issue, the importance of urban green space (UGS) has become increasingly prominent. This paper collected data related to UGS (green space coverage, vegetation type, environmental quality, population distribution, etc.) for processing, used the entropy algorithm to build an ecological environment assessment model, and then used the particle swarm optimisation algorithm to optimise the model accordingly. Finally, a decision support system was proposed for UGS ecological environment planning, which comprehensively considered future environmental changes. Through comparison before and after the application of decision support system, this paper tested and verified several indicators such as green space coverage, biological diversity index, and climate adaptability. Among them, after the application of the decision support system, the green space coverage rate has increased year by year, and many indicators in the biological diversity index have improved significantly. The average climate adaptability of traditional UGS planning was 70 %, while the average climate adaptability of decision support system green space planning was 90 %, which has been significantly improved. The outcome shows that the system has a notable effect in improving the climate adaptation and ecological quality of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental perception is a key indicator for evaluating green space preference and satisfaction. The shift in urban green space research towards emphasizing human benefits over functionality has caused a gradual increase in the number of articles on green space perception in recent years. Studying the relationship between the vegetation landscape (a fundamental aspect of urban green spaces) and subjective perceptual dimensions have become a pivotal research topic. This paper delves into the correlations and influencing relationships between these two dimensions with the main focus being on vegetation landscape indicators and subjective perception. The perceived green benefits were categorized into four main groups in the 80 articles reviewed: perceived safety, visual aesthetics, restoration benefits, and preferences. In this study, green indicators were also defined and categorized. The results indicated that the guiding indicators had a higher frequency and that species diversity improved the perceived benefits in all aspects. Among the control indicators, plant color, plant height, and the vegetation composition structure received the most attention. Plant color accounted for the largest proportion of studies on perceived visual aesthetics. Vegetation characteristics related to perceived safety had a shared trait, and there was a lack of correlation studies between safety and aesthetics in perceptual dimensions. In the common methods for assessing human perception, a shift from subjective measurements to mixed measurements using emerging technologies is underway. As a pioneering scope review of how vegetation landscapes influence subjective human perceptions, this study has not only provided evidence of the perceived benefits of urban green spaces but also offers valuable insights and tools for future research and policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green contributes to enhanced well-being and overall quality of life in urban populations. The concept of place attachment provides an established avenue for exploring the intricate connections between urban environments and personal experiences. Building on the notion of place attachment, we investigated the perceptions of horizontal and vertical urban green by introducing a novel Urban Green Attachment (UGA) scale. A cross-sectional study using an online survey in German, measuring emotional, cognitive, and behavioral relations to urban vegetation, was conducted among 164 adult inhabitants of the Volkert quarter in Vienna, Austria. Using principal component analysis, we found that the UGA scale was a reliable measure of attachment to urban green, with ten items within the "attachment" factor. Study participants highly valued vertical green, but did not differentiate their attachment to it from horizontal greenery within the specific local context and by design of the measures we used. Thus, further studies and ethnographic investigations, preferentially accompanied by methods such as walking interviews, are needed to test the scale for other populations and settings. The UGA scale emerges as a valuable tool for advancing understanding in this critical area, given the current climate change-driven transformations of cities, building on the creation of green infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing the change trend of urban green space (UGS) and exploring related driving forces can provide scientific reference for sustainable development in rapidly urbanizing areas. However, the spatial and temporal driving mechanisms of the drivers on UGS patterns at different scales are still not deeply understood. Based on the GlobeLand30 land cover data, nighttime lighting data and spatial statistics from 2000 to 2020, this study analyzed the size, shape and diversity of UGS in Guangzhou at the urban level, gradient level and township level with multiple landscape indices. Diversity means the richness of UGS patch types. The selected indices include percent of landscape (PLAND), largest path index (LPI), landscape shape index (LSI), aggregation index (AI) and Shannon's diversity index (SHDI). The spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the drivers was then explored using the spatiotemporal weighted regression (GTWR) method. Results showed the following: (1) During 2000−2020, the total amount of UGS in Guangzhou increased slightly and then decreased gradually. UGS was mainly transferred into artificial surfaces (lands modified by human activities). (2) The UGS landscape showed a non-linear trend along the urban–rural gradient and fluctuated more in the interval of 20–60% urbanization level. PLAND, LPI and AI decreased significantly in areas with higher levels of urbanization. LSI increased and SHDI decreased significantly in areas with lower levels of urbanization. At township level, the landscape indices showed significant spatial autocorrelation. They transformed from discrete changes at the edge and at the junction of the administrative district to large-scale aggregated change, especially in northern areas. (3) The size of UGSs was mainly influenced by natural factors and population density, but their shape and diversity were mainly influenced by socio-economic factors. More regular shapes of green patches were expected in higher urbanization areas. Population agglomeration positively influenced green space patterns in the northeastern and southern regions (Zengcheng, Conghua and Nansha). Meanwhile the negative influence of urban expansion on the green space pattern in the central and southern regions decreased over time. This study contributes to an in-depth understanding of how the key factors affect the different changes of UGS with time and space and provides methodological support for the long-term zoning planning and management of UGS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green spaces (UGSs) possess a status in improving public health; thus, it is crucial to emphasize the evaluation of UGSs in terms of residents' physical activity (PA). This study utilizes the semantic segmentation method and Geographic Information System tools to quantify the key values of UGSs, including aesthetic and attractions, natural world experience, nature conservation, encouraging physical activity, cultural value, and social value, which are set as the evaluation indexes to investigate their impacts on residents' PA based on the six UGSs in Changsha city, Hunan Province, China. The PA-oriented UGS evaluation model is realized through the index optimal combination weights obtained by the Improved Combination Weighting Method of Game Theory, combining the subjective and objective weights from the Uncertainty Analytic Hierarchy Process method and Entropy Weight Method, respectively. By collecting and analyzing the exercise data of residents, we can accurately assess the level of residents' PA and frequency within various UGSs. The proposed model herein has a positive significance for evaluating the value of public green space in residents' PA in Changsha city and provides a reference for the construction of an urban green space evaluation model from multiple perspectives in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzed the role of national economic factors, in addition to some key city-level variables, in the variation of the urban green space (UGS) in Mashhad City (Iran) during three decades (1998–2018). The correlation result revealed the effects of the increasing trend of land price, population rate, and construction of built-up areas in the decreasing trend of UGS in the study area (R from − 0.95 to -0.99 at p-value > 95%). Also, the country-level economic factors, i.e., GDP per capita, oil price, export total value, and FDI, represented the overall increasing trend from 1988 to 2018, correlating with the decrease of green space areas (R from − 0.76 to -0.92 at p-value > 75%). Some statistical analyses, such as the run-test, the skewness and kurtosis tests, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and the ANOVA test were done to confirm the normality of the data distribution and reliability of the results. Ultimately, clustering the research variables based on the significance and confidence levels of the estimated correlation results revealed that the change in the oil price and national export values in the petroleum-dependent economy of Iran can be assumed as the lead key economic factors to fluctuate all city-level variables, particularly the UGS variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conducting precise evaluations and predictions of the environmental conditions for plant growth in green spaces is crucial for ensuring their health and sustainability. Yet, assessing the health of urban greenery and the plant growth environment represents a significant and complex challenge within the fields of urban planning and environmental management. This complexity arises from two main challenges: the limitations in acquiring high-density, high-precision data, and the difficulties traditional methods face in capturing and modeling the complex nonlinear relationships between environmental factors and plant growth. In light of the superior spatial interpolation capabilities of CEDGAN (conditional encoder–decoder generative adversarial neural network), notwithstanding its comparative lack of robustness across different subjects, and the excellent ability of FCNN (fully connected neural network) to fit multiple nonlinear equation models, we have developed two models based on these network structures. One model performs high-precision spatial attribute interpolation for urban green spaces, and the other predicts and evaluates the environmental conditions for plant growth within these areas. Our research has demonstrated that, following training with various samples, the CEDGAN network exhibits satisfactory performance in interpolating soil pH values, with an average pixel error below 0.03. This accuracy in predicting both spatial distribution and feature aspects improves with the increase in sample size and the number of controlled sampling points, offering an advanced method for high-precision spatial attribute interpolation in the planning and routine management of urban green spaces. Similarly, FCNN has shown commendable performance in predicting and evaluating plant growth environments, with prediction errors generally less than 0.1. Comparing different network structures, models with fewer hidden layers and nodes yielded superior training outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The statutory planning of the urban landscape of Kuala Lumpur (KL) has been solely relied on a rigid and fixed quantitative specification without ecological evaluation, resulting in the loss of biodiversity, degradation of urban ecosystem services and liveability. Past research in the area of quantitative urban green space (UGS) planning and ecology were mainly concentrated in the provision, accessibility, and connectivity of UGS, but lacking in the ecological quality dimension. This paper intends to fill the knowledge gap by quantifying the ecological quality of UGS in multiple scales from tree, park, to city level with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to map the leaf area index (LAI) in the city of KL. The estimation of KL LAI involves a two-step processes. In the first step, 9 UGSs under the management of local authority were selected for the mapping of the distribution of Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Concurrently, rigorous field works are conducted to sample field LAI of selected trees in all of the UGSs with AccuPAR LP80 Ceptometer. UGS LAI are estimated with regression of UAV NDVI and field LAI. Analysis of the result shows that there is a moderately strong relationship (R² = 0.56, RMSE =0.33) between UAV NDVI and field LAI and the established statistical equation is used for the estimation of UGS LAI covering all the parks. In the second step, the statistical relationship was upscaled to the entire city level with UGS LAI and SPOT-7 NDVI data (R² =0.50, RMSE = 0.94). The multiscale estimation of LAI provides an effective indicator of the landscape ecological performance among the different electoral area where targeted landscape enhancement and remediation policies can be formulated to improve urban sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green spaces have a positive impact on the mood of urban residents. However, previous studies have focused primarily on parks or residential areas, neglecting the influence of green spaces in different socioeconomic locations on public sentiment. This oversight fails to acknowledge that most young individuals are exposed to places beyond their homes and parks throughout the day. Using web crawlers, we collected 105,214 Sina Weibo posts from 14,651 geographical check-in points in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. We developed a mixed ordered logistic regression model to quantify the relationship between public sentiment (negative/neutral/positive) and the surrounding green space. The findings are as follows: (1) the correlation between GVI and public sentiment is stronger than that between public sentiment and NDVI; (2) among different socioeconomic regions, residential areas are associated with lower levels of public sentiment, while parks are associated with higher levels; and (3) at a scale of 1000 m, an increase of 1% in GVI significantly improves public sentiment regarding transportation hubs, with a regression coefficient of 0.0333. The relationship between green space and public sentiment is intricate and nuanced, and it is influenced by both public activities and spatiotemporal contexts. Urban green space planners should consider additional factors to enhance the effectiveness of green space in improving public sentiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible and high-quality urban green space (UGS) can provide significant benefits to refugee children for their development, health, and well-being. However, few studies have examined the actual accessibility of UGS from refugee children's perspectives (i.e., with restricted walking radius, particular vulnerability towards barriers such as traffic infrastructures and disconnected road forms) and related them with other environmental or social burdens under the context of environmental justice. It is necessary to explore related evidence and investigate the underlying causes since refugee facilities are primarily located in areas with restricted social and environmental resources strongly related to attributes of environmental justice. This paper investigated (1) availability, accessibility, and attractiveness of UGS in 30 refugee accommodation locations in Berlin using GIS and Space Syntax, (2) environmental burdens using the Berlin Atlas of Environmental Justice, and (3) neighbourhood characteristics. Findings indicate that 63% of refugee accommodations have availability of green space that is above average official standards, but from refugee children's perspectives, 60% of the locations have limited access to UGS, lower attractive green spaces, and most locations face multi-environmental burdens. Currently, little guidance focuses on ensuring equal access to and the usability of UGS for specific socioeconomic and demographic groups, such as refugee children. Therefore, this paper has contributed empirical materials to begin such research and develop inclusive decision-making strategies in environmental and health policy to ensure the provision and high quality of UGS for refugee children who need it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green spaces play a vital role in improving the quality of life and well-being of urban residents. However, their economic benefits in different spatial contexts within highly urbanized areas remain a critical yet understudied topic. This study delves into the economic value of urban green spaces in Cheongju City, Republic of Korea, and investigates the distance-decay features associated with the proximity of green spaces to residential properties. Two spatial econometric models were employed to address these questions: the spatially autoregressive (SAR) model and the generalized additive model (GAM). The SAR model was used to assess the economic benefits of urban green spaces, whereas the distance decay of these benefits was examined with the GAM. Empirical analyses revealed that small-sized parks or forests under 20 ha hold greater economic value when in proximity to residential areas compared to medium-sized parks or forests between 20 and 200 ha. Conversely, large parks or forests over 200 ha appeared to have a disamenity effect, negatively impacting property prices when in close proximity. The GAM's smooth functions illustrated that the distance-decay effect was shorter for small-sized green spaces and exhibited an inverted U-shape for large-sized ones, resulting in a negative benefit of proximity. Our findings suggest that urban green spaces have a positive impact on property prices, but this effect may not apply uniformly to large-sized parks or forests. Therefore, to enhance the residents' welfare, green infrastructure policies should prioritize the provision of accessible small- and/or medium-sized parks or forests near residential areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]