Search Results (7)

The territorial development of the city of Brno during the 19th–21st centuries meant not only the growth of built-up areas (residential, industrial, commercial), but also the absorbing of segments of the ancient rural agricultural landscape. Within the current borders of the city of Brno, a number of green areas have been preserved, which have spontaneously developed from the original agricultural landscape, without being the result of urban planning. In half of the cases (17 out of a total of 34), they have still preserved the traditional small-scale division of land. Among the 10 medium-sized Moravian cities (between 30,000 and 400,000 inhabitants) in the historical region of Moravia in the east of the Czech Republic, the presence of 34 remnants of the ancient rural landscape in the city of Brno is quite exceptional (in Ostrava only 1; in other cities 0). The subject of the research is the inventory of such segments within the city borders and an attempt to explain their location in the city, state, focusing on the role of natural factors, land ownership and personal and recreational interests of residents. Segments of the ancient rural cultural landscape were identified by comparing the current landscape on aerial photographs with the landscape image on cadastral maps from the 1820s–1830s. Additional data on their natural and cultural properties were obtained through archival and field research. The segments were classified according to their degree of preservation and forms of threat. The results show that the remains of the ancient rural cultural landscape in the city of Brno have generally been preserved in locations that, due to the slope of the slopes, unsuitable building subsoil and poor soil, but locally on warm southern slopes, were not suitable for construction for the time being. Urban gardening contributes to their preservation and these areas are part of the city’s greenery. However, urban gardening also contributes to the destruction of these remnants. In 17 cases, the land was completely re-divided, built up with recreational facilities and overgrown with trees due to poor care. Another 17 locations are threatened by this process due to ignorance of their historical value, although this is essentially a positive development in terms of benefits for the city’s residents—land users. Although the Master Plan of the city of Brno foresees the existence of garden colonies in the future, it does not address the importance of the best-preserved segments as historical heritage. Community agriculture can play a positive role in maintaining segments of rural heritage within the city. Full article

The world’s big cities, including Budapest, are becoming more crowded, with more and more people living in smaller and smaller spaces. There is an increasing demand for more green space and trees, with less vertical and less horizontal space. In addition, deteriorating environmental conditions are making it even more difficult for trees to grow and survive. Tree species in urban areas have multiple functions and high ecosystem services when in good health. Among taxa with diverse habits, sizes, crown shapes, growth vigor, longevity, urban tolerance, and canopy habit, our research aims to evaluate urban specimens of spherical species with smaller space requirements and sizes but have regular geometric crown shapes in public plantations in Budapest. In the restricted urban habitats, the city’s cadastral records include 4676 specimens with spherical crowns. Among the species examined, eight species with globular crowns (Acer platanoides ‘Globosum’, Catalpa bignonioides ‘Nana’, Celtis occidentalis ‘Globosa’, Fraxinus excelsior ‘Nana’, Fraxinus ornus ‘Mecsek’, Platanus × hispanica ‘Alphen’s Globe’, Prunus × eminens ‘Umbraculifera’ and Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Umbraculifera’) were evaluated in relation to age, health, wood type, crown size, and shade projection in order to show which species are or will be suitable in the future. Full article

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a crucial challenge in urban areas characterized by high energy consumption and reduced exposure to nature. In this context, the urban green system could play a pivotal role. In the literature, scholars have analyzed both the ability of species-specific and layout-specific green infrastructure to increase carbon sequestration and the best location sites for new green infrastructure to increase the provision of overall ecosystem services. There is a lack of studies helping green urban planners and designers choose where and which green infrastructure to implement based on vegetation species-specific performance and the local carbon emissions of city components. This paper uses tree inventory data from a medium-sized city in central Italy (Perugia) to develop a spatial analysis of urban park performance in carbon sequestration. Then, the method evaluates the carbon emission of a public city building to generate a spatialized balance between building demand and tree supply to support local decisions about the best locations for new green infrastructure and the choice between species. The paper contributes to GIS-based tools that vary the recommended location sites and species for new green infrastructure based on the demanded ecosystem service. Full article

Urban tree cadastres, crucial for climate adaptation and urban planning, face challenges in maintaining accuracy and completeness. A transdisciplinary approach in Kaiserslautern, Germany, complements existing incomplete tree data with additional precise GPS locations of urban trees. Deep learning models using aerial imagery identify trees, while other applications employ street view imagery and LIDAR data to collect additional attributes, such as height and crown width. A web application encourages citizen participation in adding features like species and improving datasets for further model training. The initiative aims to minimize resource-intensive maintenance conducted by local administrations, integrate additional features, and improve data quality. Its primary goal is to create transferable AI models utilizing aerial imagery and LIDAR data that can be applied in regions with similar tree populations. The approach includes tree clusters and private trees, which are essential for assessing allergy and ozone potential but are usually not recorded in municipal tree cadastres. The paper highlights the potential of improving tree cadastres for effective urban planning in a transdisciplinary approach, taking into account climate change, health, and public engagement. Full article

Reducing air pollution is a crucial challenge in urban areas. In this regard, urban green infrastructures could play a pivotal role. In the literature, scholars analyzed both the ability of species-specific and layout-specific green infrastructures to reduce air pollution and the best location sites of new green infrastructures to increase the provision of overall ecosystem services. There is a lack of studies helping green urban planners and designers choose where and which green infrastructure to implement based on vegetation species-specific performance and differentiated demand for the ecosystem services of city areas. This paper uses tree cadastre data from a medium-sized city in central Italy (Perugia) and the traffic open-layers of Gmaps to develop a spatial analysis of the urban trees’ performance in PM₁₀ dust retention, and the PM₁₀ produced by vehicular emissions, respectively. The method generates a spatialized balance between demand (air-polluted sites by traffic) and supply (PM₁₀ dust retention by trees) to support local decisions about the best locations for new green infrastructures and the choice between species. The paper analyzed 6710 urban trees in an area of 42.62 km² with a linear road density of 15 km/km². Platanus hybrida Mill. ex Münchh, Celtis australis L., Ulmus carpinifolia L., Pinus pinaster Aiton, Quercus ilex L., Quercus robur L., and Tilia cordata Mill. are the resulting optimal species to reduce PM₁₀, with median values of 219.62, 181.47, 166.67, 154.66, 143.90, 118.61, and 118.04 g tree⁻¹ yr⁻¹, respectively. The paper is a first contribution in developing GIS-based tools that vary the recommended location sites and species for new green infrastructures based on the demanded ecosystem service. Urban planners are called to dynamically use and integrate numerous tools, such as the one developed here, to seek complex solutions capable of increasing the sustainability of urban systems. Full article

The provision of ecosystem services by urban trees is not yet routinely integrated in city administrations’ planting scenarios because the quantification of these services is often time-consuming and expensive. Accounting for these welfare functions can enhance life quality for city dwellers. We present innovative approaches that may appeal to the numerous city administrations that keep tree inventory or cadastre databases of all trees growing on city property for civil law liability reasons. Mining these ubiquitous data can be a feasible alternative to field surveys and improve cost–benefit ratios for ecosystem service assessment. We present methods showing how data gaps (in particular tree height and crown light exposure) in the cadastre data can be filled to estimate ecosystem services with i-Tree Eco. Furthermore, we used the i-Tree Eco output for a noval approach which focus on predicting energy reduction as a proxy for cooling benefits provided by trees. The results for the total publicly owned and managed street trees in our study site of Duisburg (Germany) show that the most important ecosystem services are the removal of particulate matter by 16% of the city emissions and the reduction of 58% of the direct and thermal radiation in the effective range of the trees in the cadastre. Full article

Reducing exposure to degraded air quality is essential for building healthy cities. Although air quality and population vary at fine spatial scales, current regulatory and public health frameworks assess human exposures using county- or city-scales. We build on a spatial analysis technique, dasymetric mapping, for allocating urban populations that, together with emerging fine-scale measurements of air pollution, addresses three objectives: (1) evaluate the role of spatial scale in estimating exposure; (2) identify urban communities that are disproportionately burdened by poor air quality; and (3) estimate reduction in mobile sources of pollutants due to local tree-planting efforts using nitrogen dioxide. Our results show a maximum value of 197% difference between cadastrally-informed dasymetric system (CIDS) and standard estimations of population exposure to degraded air quality for small spatial extent analyses, and a lack of substantial difference for large spatial extent analyses. These results provide the foundation for improving policies for managing air quality, and targeting mitigation efforts to address challenges of environmental justice. Full article