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Forests
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Urban Forests and Greening for Sustainable Cities
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Urban Forests and Greening for Sustainable Cities

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Forestry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 October 2025 | Viewed by 5025

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Simona Aprile

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Center for Plant Protection and Certification, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, C/O DIPARTIMENTO SAAF UNIPA, Viale delle Scienze, 4, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: urban ecology; plant protection against abiotic stresses; valorization of mediterranean plant germplasm; urban greening and green roof; native mediterranean shrubs; thermal, hydric, and salt stress; halophytes; sedum; xerophytes
Dr. Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Richmond, NSW 2753, Australia
Interests: climate change; vulnerability; plant ecophysiology; ecology; species distribution modelling; urban ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Urban forests and urban green spaces are an integral part of urban ecosystems. They can provide important ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, air pollution control, microclimate and urban water runoff regulation, urban biodiversity enhancement, and recreation. These ecosystem services can make a concrete contribution to improving quality of life and sustainable urban development. Despite a long history of landscaping and urban greening worldwide, the specific functions, agronomical, forestry, and technological aspects, the evaluation methodologies, and the environmental, social, and other benefits of urban forests and urban greening require up-to-date scientific studies and exchange of research experiences. For example, an under-explored and highly topical area of multidisciplinary research is "humane psychophysical well-being“regarding plant-human interaction at the urban scale.

This Special Issue invites contributions and reports new research and findings on the ecology and innovation aspects of urban forests and urban green spaces and their sustainable management. The focus of the studies may be broad, ranging from the agronomic response of plants to specific stress factors or the enhancement of their capacity to mitigate even the effects of climate change to the evaluation of new technologies and management methodologies. Studies on entomology, pathology of urban green spaces and forests, and plant–human interactions at the urban scale are also welcome.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Impacts of urban forests and urban greening on air, soil, and water;
  • Urban greening strategies to increase biodiversity and ecological value in cities;
  • Sustainable practices and technologies for urban forestry and urban greening;
  • Innovative approaches to plant and canopy management in urban areas;
  • Innovative approaches to plant pest management in urban environments;
  • Designing urban forests and green spaces to promote ecological balance;
  • Integrating urban green spaces to enhance biodiversity corridors;
  • Entomofauna in urban environments;
  • Ecosystem services provided by urban forests;
  • Carbon balance in urban forests;
  • The benefit of urban forests to urban climate.

Dr. Simona Aprile
Dr. Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • climate change
  • parks
  • gardens
  • green roofs
  • green infrastructures
  • vegetal ground cover

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 8118 KiB  
Article
Mapping Priority Areas for Urban Afforestation Based on the Relationship Between Urban Greening and Social Vulnerability Indicators
by João Vitor Guerrero, Elton Vicente Escobar-Silva, Cláudia Maria de Almeida, Daniel Caiche, Alex Mota dos Santos and Fabrízia Gioppo Nunes
Forests 2025, 16(6), 936; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16060936 - 3 Jun 2025
Viewed by 743
Abstract
Analyzing the population’s access to ecosystem services offered by urban greening constitutes a measure of environmental justice, as it directly affects the quality of life and health of the population living in cities. This article is committed to proposing a geoenvironmental model in [...] Read more.
Analyzing the population’s access to ecosystem services offered by urban greening constitutes a measure of environmental justice, as it directly affects the quality of life and health of the population living in cities. This article is committed to proposing a geoenvironmental model in a geographic information system (GIS), envisaged to estimate the share of urban forests and green spaces in territorial planning units (TPUs), corresponding to neighborhoods of a pilot city, using high-spatial-resolution images of the China–Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS-4A) and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). These data were combined by means of a Boolean analysis with social vulnerability indicators assessed from census data related to income, education, housing, and sanitation. This model ultimately aims to identify priority areas for urban afforestation in the context of environmental justice and is thus targeted to improve the inhabitants’ quality of life. The municipality of Goiânia, the capital of Goiás state, located in the Brazilian Central–West Region, was chosen as the study area for this experiment. Goiânia presents 19.5% of its urban territory (82.36 km2) covered by vegetation. The analyses indicate an inequity in the distribution of urban forest patches and green areas in this town, where 7.8% of the total TPUs have low priority, 28.2% have moderate to low priority, 42.2% have moderate to high priority, and 21.8% have high priority for urban afforestation. This urban greening imbalance is particularly observed in its most urbanized central nuclei, associated with a peripheralization of social vulnerability. These findings are meant to support initiatives towards sound territorial planning processes designed to promote more sustainable and equal development to ensure environmental justice and combat climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Forests and Greening for Sustainable Cities)
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19 pages, 8344 KiB  
Article
Beat the Heat: Stay or Stray? Exploring the Connection of Extreme Temperature Events, Green Space, and Impervious Surfaces in European Cities
by Wiktor Halecki
Forests 2024, 15(12), 2194; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15122194 - 12 Dec 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 961
Abstract
In urban areas prone to extreme weather, it has become crucial to implement effective strategies to improve living conditions for residents reliant on medical and educational facilities. This research highlighted the importance of urban green spaces in cooling European cities and examined the [...] Read more.
In urban areas prone to extreme weather, it has become crucial to implement effective strategies to improve living conditions for residents reliant on medical and educational facilities. This research highlighted the importance of urban green spaces in cooling European cities and examined the planning and maintenance of these areas alongside economic losses due to water consumption during heatwaves. Key findings using an SEM (structural equation model) showed that hot summer days indirectly impacted water prices by increasing cumulative temperature days. The confidence interval (0.015, 0.038) confirmed this effect. Additionally, tropical nights indirectly impacted water prices, as shown by the cooling degree days, which indicated the need for air conditioning. The increased use of energy for cooling resulted in higher water prices due to the water required for power generation. This effect was statistically significant, with an estimated value of 0.029 (p < 0.001). A generalized linear model (GLM) indicated an inverse relationship between urban green space and impervious surfaces (slope: −0.69996 ± 0.025561, intercept: 53.675 ± 0.97709, p < 0.01), which was important for reducing impervious surfaces and improving water management, ultimately leading to cooler urban temperatures. Practical recommendations for decision-makers, urban planners, and residents are provided to adapt to changing extreme weather conditions. These include improving the soil environment in current locations and increasing access to green spaces, which can enhance well-being and address health issues. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Forests and Greening for Sustainable Cities)
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24 pages, 1253 KiB  
Article
The Role of Urban Forest Policies in Driving Green Innovation: Evidence from Chinese Cities
by Xingneng Xia, Yuji Hui, Yaqian Chen and Sheng Zhang
Forests 2024, 15(11), 1913; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15111913 - 30 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1084
Abstract
Urban forest policies have garnered increasing global attention for their critical role in providing key ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, air pollution control, microclimate regulation, and biodiversity enhancement, as well as their potential to drive green innovation and sustainable urban development. This [...] Read more.
Urban forest policies have garnered increasing global attention for their critical role in providing key ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, air pollution control, microclimate regulation, and biodiversity enhancement, as well as their potential to drive green innovation and sustainable urban development. This study utilized panel data from 273 Chinese cities between 2000 and 2022, employing a quasi-natural experiment and a difference-in-differences (DID) model to systematically evaluate the impact of the National Forest City Policy (NFCP) on urban green innovation. The results indicate that NFCP significantly enhances urban green innovation, with these findings remaining robust across a series of validation tests. Mechanism analysis revealed that the policy fosters green innovation by increasing environmental attention, facilitating talent aggregation, and reducing carbon emissions. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis showed that the policy’s effects are more pronounced in small- and medium-sized cities, non-transportation hub cities, and economically developed regions. Based on these findings, this paper offers recommendations for optimizing policy implementation across different city types to further promote sustainable urban green economic development. This study broadens the research perspective on the relationship between urban policies and green innovation, providing more precise decision-making guidance for policymakers while also highlighting the important role urban forests play in enhancing ecosystem services and driving sustainable urban growth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Forests and Greening for Sustainable Cities)
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23 pages, 7106 KiB  
Article
Mixed Coniferous Broad-Leaved Forests as Road Shelter Forests: Increased Urban Traffic Noise Reduction Effects and Economic Benefits
by Jiaxuan Liu, Yulun Wu, Haibo Hu and Yuanyuan Feng
Forests 2024, 15(10), 1714; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15101714 - 27 Sep 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1417
Abstract
Establishing road shelter forests is a key method to reduce traffic noise pollution. However, the characteristics of various types of road shelter forests and their effectiveness in reducing traffic noise remain extensively unexplored. This study focused on five types of pure road shelter [...] Read more.
Establishing road shelter forests is a key method to reduce traffic noise pollution. However, the characteristics of various types of road shelter forests and their effectiveness in reducing traffic noise remain extensively unexplored. This study focused on five types of pure road shelter forests (PFs) and one type of mixed coniferous broad-leaved forest (MCBLF). By conducting field noise monitoring and spectrum simulations, we analyzed average mass density, additional noise reduction and economic benefits. With a forest belt width of 60 m, the MCBLF reduced additional noise by 6.6 dB(A). Additionally, Forest height, crown shape, average mass density and noise frequency were all positively linked to noise reduction. The width of shelter forests was the main factor affecting noise reduction. Linear regression analysis results showed that cumulative mass surface density was a significant factor in noise reduction (p < 0.01, R2 = 0.93). Furthermore, the type and composition of the shelter forest had indirect effects on noise reduction. The MCBLF had better noise-reducing effects compared to both broad-leaved PFs and needle-leaved PFs due to its more complex structure. Interestingly, as the forest belt became wider, the noise reduction benefits per unit area decreased, implying that a 10 m wide forest belt offered higher economic returns. Considering that a 10 m wide shelter forest belt did not meet noise reduction requirements. This study suggested that the 20 m wide MCBLF was an optimal choice as an urban road shelter forest, providing both effective noise reduction and maximized economic benefits. Our findings provide a basis for the construction and sustainable development of road shelter forests with noise reduction functions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Forests and Greening for Sustainable Cities)
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