While urban parks are often positioned as multicultural recreation spaces bringing together racially and ethnically diverse visitors, there is mixed evidence regarding such contributions. A variety of factors can constrain or facilitate park visitation among diverse audiences; however, less is known about the factors that impact the diversity of visitors (i.e., mix of visitors from different racial

As global urbanization accelerates, urban ecosystems undergo profound transformations, necessitating deeper investigations into the ecological effects of urban green patches at varying local scales and their impact on bird community distributions. This study explores the influence of landscape characteristic indices across nine distinct patch types along the urbanization gradient on bird community

The different vegetation covers and management play an important role in improving soil water retention properties. The present research was carried out on the campus lawns of the University of Agriculture, Krakow, Poland, from May to October 2023, to examine the impact of vegetation covers and management, including mowed (A) and non-mowed lawns (B) or flower meadows (C) on soil water retention properties

Shade is an effective measure for reducing outdoor heat exposure. More infrastructure is needed to protect urban populations from direct sunlight during outdoor travels in hot weather, but shade is often overlooked in planning. This research uses the metropolitan area of Nanjing, China, as a case study to explore the spatiotemporal dynamics of population movement and shade, utilizing data from mobile

With the rapid development of green tourism in China, Jilin Province, a key forest area, is facing significant pressures related to green space utilisation and ecological preservation. These pressures arise from eco-tourism development amidst challenges such as a low economic level, high population density and limited land resources. This study explored the individual-environment interaction model

Maintaining turfgrass quality is key to deriving ecological, social, and cultural ecosystem services from urban sports fields. Annual bluegrass, the most troublesome weed in U.S. turfgrass systems and a problematic weed in Australasia and Europe, poses serious risks to sustaining these services. Recent U.S. focus groups have documented turfgrass professionals’ concerns about annual bluegrass, particularly

The continued growth and densification of urban areas leads to increased road traffic noise exposure for residents and associated health impacts. Green spaces can alleviate these adverse effects by serving as restorative environments and thus promoting well-being. In a cross-sectional study in Zurich, Switzerland, we used an online survey with a participatory mapping approach and explored the associationbetween

In the context of the demands of an ageing society, community parks serve as the most proximal outdoor spaces for elderly residents and play significant roles in both physical and mental well-being. However, despite their potential, there remains a research gap in the exploration of the therapeutic qualities that community parks provide for elderly individuals. This study analyses the therapeutic quality

The successful integration of immigrants into European societies has become a crucial policy issue in the past decade. Urban greenspace (UGS) provides social spaces for people with different ethnic backgrounds; however, the relationships between the social integration of immigrants with the reciving society and UGS have attracted relatively little research interest. This study aims to explore the role

Increasing heat and drought stress under climate change will likely decrease the health and vitality of some urban tree species. Methods currently used to estimate the ‘vulnerability’ of tree species to climate change are often based on climate envelopes derived from global occurrence data. However, these methods are yet to be validated against measures of tree performance, e.g. vitality. In this study

Sociology provides essential insights into the complex interactions between urban green infrastructures (UGIs) and society. However, despite increasing recognition of their social impacts, UGIs still lack a systematic sociological framework to uncover key trends and critical research gaps. This paper seeks to fill this gap by analyzing influential scientific sources at the intersection of sociology

Despite the local turn in UK integration policy, which advocates for community-based approaches (Phillimore, 2020), the focus of academia and policy remains on the social structural dimensions of integration, neglecting the role that nature plays. In this paper we address this gap by investigating the role of nature in integration experiences. To explore this, we conducted interdisciplinary research

As urbanization accelerates and climate change intensifies, cities increasingly turn to green infrastructure to manage stormwater and enhance resilience. Urban trees not only sequester carbon and reduce heat island effects but also partition rainfall into interception, throughfall, and stemflow. Stemflow (the water channeled down tree trunks) is often voluminous and nutrient-rich in urban settings

Soil microbes perform a wide range of functions, including nutrient cycling. Soils in urban green spaces also provide a nearby source of natural microbiota for human residents, potentially promoting the development of skin microbiomes and having beneficial impact on health. The soil of urban green spaces, which have distinctive vegetation characteristics, was analysed in two boreal cities to investigate

Extensive green roofs (EGRs) are gaining popularity worldwide due to their environmental and economic benefits. A primary goal of EGRs is to achieve low maintenance to reduce costs; however, this is often challenged by harsh environmental stresses and limited substrate depth. These challenges can be mitigated through strategic plant selection and substrate design. Despite substantial research on plants

University students frequently suffer from mental health challenges such as stress, depression, and anxiety during their studies. It is therefore crucial to offer spaces and landscapes on the university campus that offer mental restoration and promote well-being, given the substantial time spent there. Prior research has explored the impact of exposure to campus landscape on students' mental health

Urban Green Infrastructures (GI) and Nature-based Solutions (NBS) play an essential role in the adaptation of urban spaces to climate change. However, implementation has been very low so far because there are uncertainties regarding their effects and benefits. In this context, we developed a method to evaluate and monetise current ecosystem services (ESS) provided by such GI. Our approach links current

Human recreational behaviours in nature represent context- and scale-dependent phenomena. Sustainable urban planning and natural resource management call for effective interventions that target local contexts, which require a refined understanding of human-nature interactions. However, existing studies have failed to concurrently examine multiple spatial scales, nonlinearity and spatial variation in

This review examines the potential role of urban agriculture – the practice of farming within and around cities and densely populated areas – in addressing the pressing challenge of sustainable development, correlated to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a set of 17 interconnected goals designed to guide action towards a sustainable and equitable future, the SDGs represent

School ground vegetation supports children’s health, learning, and ecosystems but faces challenges in implementation and management, with limited research addressing the entire greening process. This study investigates what green practitioners in Sweden experience as challenges when implementing and managing school ground vegetation. Expert interviews were conducted with 26 experienced practitioners

The combination of diverse land uses and multiple biophysical stressors brings complexity to forest management, particularly along roadways. Managers and landowners may seek information and resources to address property-level challenges that occur in such contexts. However, little is known about information-seeking behavior among professionals in the forest management community. Our objective was to

The Green View Index (GVI) is a critical metric for assessing urban environments and has significant implications for enhancing residents’ well-being and promoting urban ecological health. Extracting GVI using street view images (SVIs) is a common practice. However, since urban street greenery generally undergoes a continuous change over time, solely using SVIs that are spatiotemporally sparse would

As urbanization intensifies, maintaining and enhancing biodiversity within limited urban spaces becomes increasingly challenging and critical. Urban green roofs have emerged as an important opportunity for expanding green spaces and conserving biodiversity. This study evaluated the biodiversity of green roofs in Hong Kong by benchmarking comparable natural sites. Over the course of a year, we monitored

Urbanization is increasing worldwide, driving the expansion of urban areas and resulting in habitat loss, fragmentation, and changes in environmental conditions. Despite these pressures, urban landscapes can still support biodiversity, provide essential ecosystem services and contribute to conservation. Several metrics exist to characterize landscapes, but the spatial scale at which they are relevant

Impervious covers, such as roads, pavements, buildings, and parking lots, prevent water infiltration, thereby increasing surface runoff. The expansion of impervious cover along riverbanks in urban areas poses a significant threat to riparian ecosystems by altering species diversity and composition through hydrological changes. As dynamic ecosystems at the interface between aquatic and terrestrial environments

Gardens of healthcare institutions can have a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of care providers and recipients, and at the same time contribute to biodiversity conservation. We surveyed the current ecological value of these gardens and their potential for biodiversity across 878 healthcare institutions in northern Belgium in 2020. The majority of these healthcare institutions in our survey

Parks hold great potential for promoting healthy ageing, however, older adults are underrepresented among park visitors, indicating that current park designs may not adequately meet their needs and preferences. This may be explained by older adults often being excluded from planning and development processes for urban green spaces. This participatory study involved older adults living in low-income

The study presents the first documentation of Phytophthora honggalleglyana in an urban green space in Poland. The research, conducted in the summer of 2024 along the Służewiecki Stream in Warsaw, assessed the presence of Phytophthora pathogens in water samples and their potential impact on nearby Acer rubrum trees. Using molecular techniques, one isolate of P. honggalleglyana was identified, marking

Large solitary trees (LSTs) represent important wood volumes and carbon stocks outside forests. However, quantification remains difficult as most allometric relationships have been developed using trees in forests. Here, we explore the volumetric assessment of aboveground woody biomass of LSTs outside forests and compare them to forest trees. Using terrestrial laser scanning, we captured detailed 3D

Urban visiting patterns refer to how people visit, use, and move through urban spaces like parks, business districts, and public plazas. Green spaces and businesses significantly influence visitation patterns in urban areas, as key indicators of urban vitality. The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped these dynamic patterns. This research examines visitation patterns in Las Vegas from 2019 to 2023, focusing

It is well known that trees provide many benefits in the urban environment, including temperature reduction, carbon sequestration, pollution remediation and storm water reduction. What is less well known are the best methods to use when establishing urban trees to ensure maximized growth and ecosystem services. We examined how amending soil prior to planting by incorporating a compost deep in the soil

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) have significant impacts on ecosystem and human health, especially in urban neighbourhoods where people reside and engage in recreational activities. However, few studies have examined the emission patterns of BVOCs from residential plants, and their driving factors. This study quantifies BVOCs emissions based on a tree survey for 65 residential areas in

The emergence of urban forest trails provides more opportunities for the public to access nature. Environmental health factors, as important elements in the forest natural environment, are important for improving public health and enhancing environmental well-being. However, the scientific understanding of the vegetation characteristics of urban forest trails influencing environmental health factors

Birdsongs provide numerous cultural ecosystem services contributing to human health and well-being in urban green spaces. However, the impact of birdsong type and noise on the avian soundscapes and their contribution to landscape aesthetic quality remains largely obscure. This poses challenges for accurately modeling and projecting sound-induced changes in soundscape and landscape quality for landscape

Urban tree canopy provides benefits, but is not equitably distributed across neighborhoods, which is an environmental distributive injustice. Trees take time to grow, so historic neighborhood conditions explain, in part, present-day conditions and the inequitable distribution of tree canopy and associated benefits. In 1934, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was created to help develop new housing

Urban forests and grasslands provide diverse services from their unique characteristics. Optimizing green spaces by understanding urban residents’ preferences is a critical challenge for sustainable city development amid limited land resources. However, the mechanism influencing exposure across various types of green remains unclear. This study utilized multi-temporal mobile signal data from Shanghai

Homegardens constitute a prevalent form of urban agriculture and one of the oldest land use systems in the world. They are characterized by a high diversity of plant species, which explains their multi-functionality. A total of 119 homegardens in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, were surveyed to assess their functional plant diversity. Semi-structured interviews were employed to document the socioeconomic

Urban green spaces (UGS) are essential for enhancing urban livability by promoting both physical and mental wellbeing, yet the determinants of nature engagement in UGS remain poorly characterized, particularly in emerging economies where distinct socioeconomic dynamics pose unique challenges. This study examines the primary drivers of nature engagement in UGS within the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo

Children growing up in cities today are becoming increasingly disconnected from the natural world, which coincides with a rise in psychological problems among children. While researchers have explored the potential of exposure to nature to mitigate these issues, most studies have focused on adults and prioritized quantitative measures of exposure to nature. This study focused on the quality of children’s

Invasive, non-native invasive pests pose a growing threat to urban trees and the services they provide to urban residents. With the reluctance to use chemical insecticides in cities, environmentally friendly methods of pest management are needed. Tree diversity is known to affect insect herbivory in forest, with higher tree species diversity leading to lower level of damage. However, the validity of

Quantifying the benefits of urban greenspaces for conservation is a key goal of urban ecologists, as cities continue to expand and threaten biodiversity globally. Road verges represent a substantial portion of urban greenspace that contains simplified vegetation and considerable opportunity for habitat additions. This study focussed on an inner area of Melbourne, Australia, where citizen-led gardens

Urban trees cool their environment by shading and transpiration (latent heat, LE), thereby alleviating urban heat. LE may be critically reduced during heatwaves, when trees reduce stomatal conductance (gS) to prevent hydraulic dysfunctions. Recent observations indicate that gS may still be maintained during heatwaves, but implications for urban heat stress mitigation remain elusive. We recorded sap

The dynamics of soil respiration (Rs) in natural forest and urban forest ecosystems are already well-researched. However, there is still little research on soil respiration under individual trees in urban areas, particularly regarding the influence of the habitat, different tree species, development stage, and their interplay on soil respiration. In this study, we examined how Rs varies between the

Urban parks serve as prominent venues for nature-based recreational activities. However, current research does not adequately address how temporal factors influence enjoyment of urban park services and fails to delineate variations in recreational demand at different times. To address this research limitation, we developed a novel methodology using mobile phone data to accurately estimate the duration

Although the selection and use of different provenances within a tree species geographical distribution is an established practice in forestry, the same cannot be said for urban forestry. Understanding provenance-specific responses is crucial for selecting suitable planting materials to enhance urban forest resilience under environmental changes. Therefore, the purpose of this work, through the setting

This paper aims to estimate the crown of spruce trees using aerial top-view images captured by drones. In order to obtain real tree crown areas/diameter, we collected more than 2000 spruce trees in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and each tree was labeled that corresponding to its location in the image. The measurements of crown were done using a Haglof Vertex V Hypsometer. This paper proposes aerial

Trees in the village play an important role in enhancing the human habitat, contributing to multiple ecosystem services. However, few studies have employed tree canopy cover as an indicator to assess the impact of urbanization on village communities' greening. In this study, we used high-resolution imagery to map the village tree cover (VTC) in Beijing and quantified urbanization intensity based on

The Indian immigrant population is one of the largest and fastest-growing immigrant groups in the United States. Most Indian immigrants settle in cities where greenspaces affect their mental health. This is especially true as Indian immigrants, just like any other immigrant group in the country, can experience mental health issues. However, despite the growing number of Indian immigrants in the nation

Despite widespread enthusiasm for green roofs (GRs) as an eco-friendly solution to various urban issues, studies regarding GRs in the context of bird conservation remain limited. In this study, the Nanjing urban area (NJUA), a typical high-density area in China, was evaluated to determine where rooftops can be potentially retrofitted to become GRs. This process of identifying potential green roofs

Urban parks provide cool island through landscape pattern and morphological spatial pattern to regulate urban thermal environment. While previous studies have established the influence of urban park green space (UPGS) cooling in summer, there remains a lack of clarity regarding the single and synergistic effects of landscape pattern and morphological spatial pattern on seasonal park cool island. Therefore

With the intensifying global trend of population aging, particularly in China where it is projected that nearly one-quarter of the population will be elderly by 2050, ensuring the quality of life and environmental equity for the elderly has become an urgent issue. Urban parks, as essential public resources, play a crucial role in promoting active aging and enhancing the physical health of older adults

The process of urbanization, coupled with unregulated demographic growth, has contributed to alterations in the natural water cycle. Rain gardens have emerged as a stormwater management practice to mitigate the impact of urban flooding. Vegetation is important in bioretention systems, directly influencing performance and social perception. However, there is a gap in the scientific literature regarding

Green schoolyards vary in design, which may affect children’s play. This study investigated the association between the design of green schoolyards and primary school students recess behaviors. The design of 18 schoolyards was assessed with the Green Schoolyard Evaluation Tool (GSET). Recess behaviors were assessed with behavioral observations, in young (∼4–6 years old; n = 1093) and older (∼6–12 years

Urban green spaces benefit health, and several cities have set specific greening targets or proposed guidelines to increase the presence of green spaces. However, the development of urban green spaces is restricted by the complex urban environment. The quantitative threshold effects of passive green exposure levels and human health are still not clear. Addressing this gap is crucial for effective urban

The effects of biodiversity on well-being of urban park users are not fully understood, especially in tropical cities. Recent research showed that well-being was more strongly associated with perceived biodiversity than actual biodiversity and mediated by nature connectedness. The length of time spent in the park also correlated positively with well-being. The present study investigates the contributory

Climate change and rapid urbanization impose notable threats to urban biodiversity. Under the guidance of ecological concepts, spontaneous plants have quickly entered the field of landscape applications due to their advantages of low maintenance and high resistance. Until now, slope planting applications for spontaneous plants have been extremely scarce, especially in the hot and dry climate of northern

Urban forests provide important cultural ecosystem services to the population of cities. In this study, we assessed the recreational value of the urban forest of the city Freiburg and the forest visitors’ preferences for recreation. Both economic and non-economic valuation techniques were employed, and potential conflicts and synergies with other forest ecosystem services considered. We conducted an

Urban trees provide numerous benefits, including improved air quality, reduced urban heat, and enhanced well-being for city dwellers. However, the distribution of these benefits is often uneven, with wealthy urban areas typically receiving greater advantages than poorer urban areas, highlighting a trend of green inequality in urban environments. The health of urban trees, which is crucial for maintaining