Urban Green Spaces: An Effective Tool to Regulate Urban Climate and Biodiversity

Dear Colleagues,

Urban Green Spaces (UGSs) are on the cutting edge of recent research, probably due to their ability to provide critical services for the citizens and improve their quality of life and public health. They are considered highly influential factors and effective means for the adaptation and mitigation of climate change impacts in the cities due to the vegetation’s ability to regulate the local climate. The incorporation of UGAs in the climate change strategies and governance in modern cities is adopted in many cases to adverse the urban heat island effect and is highly encouraged by many world authorities including the European Union.

However, our knowledge of the complex urban environment and its association with green infrastructure is extremely limited. The scientific results of several studies are, in many cases, contradicted underlining the need for further research and investigation. The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to give insights into the impacts of green spaces in the urban environment and also to investigate the reverse effect of the climate and/or meteorological conditions on the growth and development of the urban vegetation on small or large time and spatial scales.

Studies (research articles, case studies, reviews or perspectives) focusing on the following (though not limited to) themes are highly encouraged for submission.

• Monitoring of micrometeorological and weather attributes in and outside of the UGSs;
• UGSs and droughts;
• Characteristics and plant species selection for use to enhance urban green infrastructures;
• Plant community composition and biodiversity patterns in urban areas;
• Biodiversity conservation in urban environments;
• Presentation of good practice paradigms;
• Incorporation of nature-based solutions in urban areas;
• Stability of UGAs based on their multiple purposes and their biodiversity;
• Urban heat island (UHI) and urban cool island (UCI) effects in the urban environment;
• Selection of natural and artificial climate-friendly or conventional materials in the UGSs;
• Impact of UGASs on citizen thermal comfort or on the need for energy;
• Ability of UGAs to infiltrate and store water and to prevent urban flooding phenomena;
• Urban green infrastructures as measures for the mitigation and adaptation of climate change;
• Impact of UGAs on public health;
• Management techniques to enhance urban biodiversity and effectiveness of the UGAs;
• Comparison of urban, suburban and forest natural ecosystems;
• UGAs characteristics (size, species composition, water requirements, optical properties including albedo, canopy architecture, connectivity, plant density, maintenance) and indices;
• UGAs association with climate governance in cities;
• Public perceptions on UGAs and socioeconomic impacts, etc.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Nikolaos Proutsos
Dr. Alexandra D. Solomou
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land 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.