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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 7 October 2024 | Viewed by 12009

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Flavia Bartoli

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Guest Editor

National Research Council (CNR), 00185 Roma, Italy
Interests: urban ecology; biodiversity and conservation; urban green spaces, archaeological areas, and nature-based solutions as tools for planning ecological networks; conservation and valorization of historical gardens and historical landscapes in the urban regeneration as tools for sustainable green cities; planning green roofs and green walls from an ecological point of view
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Dr. Seyedh Zohreh Hosseini

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Guest Editor

Department of Science, University of Roma Tre, 00146 Roma, Italy
Interests: biodeterioration and biodegradation of cultural heritage; cultural and natural landscape; conservation, valorization, and revitalization of ancient/historical gardens; ancient lost gardens; natural value of archaeological areas

Dr. Emanuela Cicinelli

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Guest Editor

Department of Science, Roma Tre University, 00146 Rome, Italy
Interests: biology applied to the conservation and valorization of cultural heritage and cultural landscape; management and planning of vegetation in archaeological sites and historical gardens; urban ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural ecosystems are now being damaged by increasing urbanization and the environmental quality of cities (noise, carbon pollution, soil erosion, habitat loss, and species extinction). This phenomenon is even more worrying because the rate of urbanization has intensified globally in recent decades and will approach 75 percent by 2050. Within cities, we can find different types of urban green spaces: public and private parks, urban forests, green roofs, and street trees. Another important aspect is that cities can promote the synergy between historic art and biological culture; it is no coincidence that historic gardens and archaeological parks are biodiversity hotspots. The importance of urban greenery is also gaining increasing today because of climate events and the desire to create circular cities and implement nature-based solutions (NbSs). Green infrastructure should be integrated into urban planning and design, providing various ecosystem services such as biodiversity.

Prof. Dr. Flavia Bartoli
Dr. Seyedh Zohreh Hosseini
Dr. Emanuela Cicinelli
Guest Editors

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Keywords

green infrastructures
climate change
historical gardens
archaeological sites
street trees
ecological network
nature-based solution
urban forestry
ecosystem services
urban ecosystem

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 2521 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Moving Towards a Holistic Approach to Circular Cities: Obstacles and Perspectives for Implementation of Nature-Based Solutions in Europe

by Jelena Ristić Trajković, Verica Krstić, Aleksandra Milovanović, Cristina Sousa Coutinho Calheiros, Mirjana Ćujić, Milica Karanac, Jan K. Kazak, Sara Di Lonardo, Rocío Pineda-Martos, Mari Carmen Garcia Mateo, Dragan Milošević, Maria Milousi, Mihai Răzvan Niță, Stefania Anna Palermo, Patrizia Piro, Behrouz Pirouz, Zorina Siscan, Michele Turco, Mentore Vaccari, Nataša Atanasova, Guenter Langergraber, Rita Lado Ribeiro and Maja Đolić Show full author list Hide full author list

Sustainability 2024, 16(16), 7085; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16167085 - 18 Aug 2024

Viewed by 1281

Abstract

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are frequently implemented without taking the system’s perspective into account and with the main focus on technical and economic issues of implementation. This study was conducted to test the hypothesis on the potential synergistic effects between circularity and NBS to holistically tackle urban challenges. The main objective is to establish preliminary insights on the obstacles and perspectives of NBS integration and implementation, through a questionnaire set up by the network of experts gathered within the COST Action CA17133 Circular City. The following research questions arise: (i) what differences exist in the level of NBS application according to the variance of engaged countries; and (ii) what are the main obstacles and perspectives for the NBS implementation in order to holistically tackle urban challenges, enhancing the sustainable connection among urban environment, nature, and human well-being. To go beyond the current state-of-the-art and reflect on the research conducted within the Circular City Action, this study aims to open a multi-geographical academic dialogue across Europe and beyond and to move towards a holistic approach to circular cities. Accordingly, this study is: (1) multi-geographical and context-based, providing input for thirty-three EU countries and four non-EU countries to give an overview of the main obstacles and perspectives of NBS implementation, and (2) approach-directed, aiming to formulate a holistic approach to deal with societal challenges. This document intends to provide qualitative and quantitative insight into the potentials and obstacles of NBS implementation in Europe, as well as to motivate further discussion and research to achieve holistic and sustainable cities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Planning: Biodiversity, Greening, and Forestry)

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19 pages, 3802 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Long-Term Landscape Changes in the Ojców National Park (Poland) and Its Surroundings: Implications for the Effectiveness of Buffer Zones

by Michał Jakiel, Dominik Kaim and Krzysztof Ostafin

Sustainability 2024, 16(15), 6649; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156649 - 3 Aug 2024

Viewed by 696

Abstract

Protected areas (PAs) serve as crucial elements in biodiversity conservation but are in danger of becoming isolated islands in human-dominated landscapes. It is related to landscape changes, especially changes in land use and land cover (LULC). Over the past decades, most research on the effectiveness of nature conservation has focused mainly on PAs, while the areas surrounding PAs are of key importance for maintaining ecological connectivity and biodiversity. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to determine the long-term changes in LULC within the selected national park in Poland and its surroundings and to assess the effectiveness of the BZ based on these changes. We hypothesized that, despite restrictions within the buffer zone, land development has intensified and increased, in the nearest surroundings of the analyzed national park. For the analysis, we selected Ojców National Park (southern Poland), one of the oldest national parks in Poland. We analyzed landscape changes before (since the 1930s) and after establishing the park and its BZ. We conducted a comprehensive quantitative analysis of the landscape structure and LULC. We used historical maps and the contemporary national LULC database. Our results showed that almost 40% of the study area consisted of lands with non-persistent LULC. The main changes include a three-fold increase in built-up areas and an increase in forest cover, mainly on abandoned agricultural land. We also found that land development around the national park is at a level similar to the general rate for the area outside the BZ. It suggests the ineffectiveness of the buffer zone in preventing land development. The identified long-term landscape changes the basis for sustainable development land management from the nature conservation perspective. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Planning: Biodiversity, Greening, and Forestry)

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21 pages, 7550 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatial Analyses in the Planning of Quiet Areas: A Case Study of Radom and Lublin (Poland)

by Patrycja Adamczyk, Martyna Andrzejewska and Sebastian Bernat

Sustainability 2024, 16(14), 6072; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16146072 - 16 Jul 2024

Viewed by 734

Abstract

The 2020 Environmental Noise in Europe report shows that a vast majority of European countries have legal definitions of quiet areas and criteria for their designation. As much as 60% of them have designated at least one quiet area in their territory and have taken measures to protect the acoustic climate in these areas. In Poland, although the instrument was introduced in the national environmental legislation, guidelines for delimitation have not been defined yet in the form of a binding legal act. The objective of this article is to propose the method for identifying quiet areas through spatial analysis and present it on the example of two cities—Radom and Lublin. These cities represent different approaches to the designation of quiet areas. This work is a continuation of the survey conducted and published by the authors in 2023. At the outset, the legislation and literature on the subject were analysed. Based on that, the conditions that potential quiet areas must meet were determined. Spatial analyses were then conducted for the quiet areas proposed earlier in the survey and in the environmental noise programme to see if the criteria selected by the authors were actually met in these areas: acoustic, functional, related to land cover, size, as well as temporal, spatial and transport accessibility, and location, including distances from areas with the highest noise emissions and adequate population density. Quiet areas are forest areas, public green areas, and surface water areas with recreational functions. The criteria for the elimination of the selected quiet areas were mainly location related (distance from main roads and population density). The accessibility of the quiet areas is also important. A method devised by the authors enables the delimitation of quiet areas in cities. Furthermore, this method is primarily based on publicly available data, which makes it applicable to other cities as well. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Planning: Biodiversity, Greening, and Forestry)

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16 pages, 28169 KiB

Open AccessArticle

CO₂ Emission Compensation by Tree Species in Some Urban Green Areas

by Marco Fornaciari, Desirée Muscas, Federico Rossi, Mirko Filipponi, Beatrice Castellani, Alessia Di Giuseppe, Chiara Proietti, Luigia Ruga and Fabio Orlandi

Sustainability 2024, 16(9), 3515; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16093515 - 23 Apr 2024

Viewed by 915

Abstract

Mitigating the negative impacts of climate change in urban areas has recently become essential to improving citizens’ living conditions. Trees are one of the most effective ways to attenuate the Heat Island phenomenon in cities, and numerous projects have been carried out to calculate tree ecosystem services (ES) provisioning. Among these, the Clivut European project (LIFE 18 GIC/IT/001217) developed a web app to allow citizens and the public administration to quantify the ES provided by the most common tree species. The present study aims to consider a new model to calculate the tree evapotranspiration cooling effect in the urban environment in terms of CO₂-compensated emissions. The model directly converts the surface temperature change produced by tree evapotranspiration into the corresponding CO₂ offset in four urban parks in two Italian cities (Bologna and Perugia). The considered parks stored 1100 t of CO₂ at the time of the study, while the CO₂ compensated is 860 t, showing the significance of this interpretation. As a result of the study, it can be concluded that the presented model will allow a better estimation of the potential trees’ climate change compensation and also add further functionality to the web app. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Planning: Biodiversity, Greening, and Forestry)

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14 pages, 1742 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Potential Economic and Ecosystem Performances of Some Mediterranean Fruit Plants in an Urban Context

by Desirée Muscas, Silvia Marrapodi, Chiara Proietti, Luigia Ruga, Fabio Orlandi and Marco Fornaciari

Sustainability 2024, 16(5), 2081; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16052081 - 1 Mar 2024

Viewed by 1001

Abstract

This study focuses on the possibility of using fruit tree species, from an urban area in central Italy, to evaluate their possible productive, ecosystem, and economic contribution. The realization of the food forest was conducted through the use of a web app that can evaluate the climatic and ecosystem performance of trees in the city. This simulation can provide the city’s government with useful information on the ecosystem and the socioeconomic benefits of planting fruit trees in an urban park. Among the four chosen species, both Ficus carica and Morus nigra showed good potential fruit production of 1300 kg and 865 kg and a CO₂ storage of 2.5 and 1.5 tons. The production and economic potentials from selling the fruits of the selected species were evaluated, and the Morus nigra species showed the highest economic value over a 50-year period of about 6000 USD, with an average price of 7 USD/kg. Another positive aspect of edible food forest landscapes is their ability to give rise to an ecosystem and habitat that can attract animals, birds, and wildlife, consequently improving urban ecosystem biodiversity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Planning: Biodiversity, Greening, and Forestry)

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13 pages, 2922 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Urban Park Design and Pedestrian Mobility—Case Study: Temuco, Chile

by Asal Kamani Fard, Mohammad Paydar and Verónica Gárate Navarrete

Sustainability 2023, 15(20), 14804; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152014804 - 12 Oct 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1852

Abstract

Pathway design features in urban parks are vital in facilitating leisure walking and maintaining a minimal rate of physical activity, hence enhancing public health. This study investigated the relationships between the design aspects of Cautin Park, Chile’s largest urban park in the Araucania Region, and the tendency for walking, as well as walking behavior. The objectives were investigated using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Several design elements were discovered to be connected to walking tendency and walking behavior in this urban park, including path paving, pathway width, (dense) trees, green spaces and vegetation, connectivity with programs and activity zones, tranquility along pathways, more shade along pathways, pathways that provide better connectivity between different parts of the park, and the presence of benches along the urban park’s pathways. These insights could be used by urban planners and designers in the future planning of urban parks in this region. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Planning: Biodiversity, Greening, and Forestry)

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15 pages, 2071 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Distribution Pattern of Urban Street Trees in Rome (Italy): A Multifactorial Evaluation of Selection Criteria

by Luca D’Amato, Flavia Bartoli, Valentina Savo, Paolo Alfredo Paiella, Francesco Messina and Giulia Caneva

Sustainability 2023, 15(19), 14065; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914065 - 22 Sep 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1447

Abstract

Street trees play a significant ecological role in modern urban ecosystems, but usually the selection criteria follow pragmatic reasons rather than bio-ecological suitability. Understanding the influence of such factors can be relevant, especially in cities having a certain complexity and area. This paper aims to analyze the variation in the distribution of street tree species within the city’s municipia of Rome to determine the influence of some factors in the selection process. Here, we have described the species of street trees in fourteen municipia of Rome, and we created five clusters of factors (bio-ecological, aesthetic, historical–cultural, health, and economic) that could constitute selection criteria for street trees. From our data analysis, the municipia of Rome were grouped into four main groups and the choice of trees was based on multiple selection criteria. Foliage type, longevity, fruit type, autochthony, and economic value were the primary criteria. In 90–100% of municipia, deciduous species dominate, with 50–150 years longevity, dry fruits, exotic species, and prices of <€500 per tree. Additionally, the flower type, allergenicity, size class, and cultural value were the secondary criteria. The biological and ecological characteristics of trees are key factors to consider in order to reduce the management of street trees and relative costs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Planning: Biodiversity, Greening, and Forestry)

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16 pages, 9865 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Soil Solarization as an Alternative Weed Control Method for Archaeological Sites in the Mediterranean Region

by Electra Kanellou, Maria Papafotiou, Garyfalia Economou and Nikolaos Ntoulas

Sustainability 2023, 15(14), 11324; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411324 - 20 Jul 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1677

Abstract

Weed species commonly colonize archaeological sites in the Mediterranean region, which poses many issues for the sites’ function and the state of preservation of the monuments. Soil solarization was investigated as an alternative environmentally friendly weed control strategy following legislative limits on the use of herbicides at archaeological sites in Greece. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of solarization applied during: (a) summer (the hottest season, as applied in organic and integrated agriculture) and (b) autumn (a season of low tourist activity in archaeological sites), testing two types of plastic mulching: (a) clear and (b) opaque black, and two types of soil preparation: (a) with tillage (as in the agricultural practice of the method) and (b) without tillage. Visual evaluation of the weed control rate suggested that the application of soil solarization during summer resulted in excellent weed control, 100% the following October to December period and over 90% until February. The application of soil solarization during autumn also provided excellent weed control and treatments with clear plastic and tillage resulted in complete (100%) weed control from October to December, while the following month weed control was over 90%. In late March, dry weight of weed biomass was significantly affected by the solarization treatments and it was significantly reduced by treatments with clear plastic. Thus, soil solarization is a sustainable method that has the potential to be used effectively for weed management in archaeological sites of the Mediterranean region. Even treatments without tillage generated excellent weed control during the winter weed flush period and are recommended to protect unexcavated, fragile artifacts. Also, the results of autumn treatments encourage the application of the method during the season of low tourist activity at archaeological sites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Planning: Biodiversity, Greening, and Forestry)

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11 pages, 5312 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Smart(phone)-Monitoring (SPM): An Efficient and Accessible Method for Tracking Alien Plant Species

by Lorenzo Pinzani and Simona Ceschin

Sustainability 2023, 15(12), 9814; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129814 - 20 Jun 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1242

Abstract

The invasion of alien plant species outside of their home range constitutes an emerging problem threatening native plant diversity. The expansion of alien species is often favored in anthropogenic habitats, such as roads and urbanized areas, which allow the rapid colonization of new sites by these species. The development of suitable monitoring methods is fundamental both to keep pace with the fast expansion dynamics of these species and to enable appropriate and prompt control strategies. In this work, an efficient, accessible, and cost-effective method for monitoring alien plants using a smartphone is proposed (smartphone-monitoring—SPM). Using smartphones with a geolocation system, geographic coordinates of images matched to single plant records can be easily acquired and structured into exportable databases in a few steps. We tested the SPM method on three black-listed alien plants, Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle, Arundo donax L., and Robinia pseudoacacia L., along the road network and in major urban centers of the Tuscany region (central Italy). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Planning: Biodiversity, Greening, and Forestry)

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