| 1. |
- Adem Esmail, Blal, Dr, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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Greening cities through urban planning : A literature review on the uptake of concepts and methods in Stockholm
- 2022
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Ingår i: Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. - : Elsevier BV. - 1618-8667 .- 1610-8167. ; , s. 127584-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nature-based solutions (NBS) represent the most recent of several "greening" concepts proposed to support spatial planning and decision-making towards sustainable metropolitan regions. Despite similarities, the concepts stem from different disciplines and policy arenas and reflect various models of people-nature relations. This paper aims to analyze the uptake of greening concepts in scientific planning literature focusing on (urban) nature and landscape in the metropolitan region of Stockholm, Sweden, over the last three decades. It investigates what changes this evolution has brought in terms of the topics adopted, methods applied, and types of planning support put into practice. We identified 574 articles that reflect substantial research on greening concepts in the Swedish planning context. The articles demonstrate an initial prevalence of biodiversity with later increases of interest in ecosystem services and NBS. A detailed analysis of the studies focusing on Stockholm revealed Population growth/densification, Green space management and Biodiversity conservation as the most commonly addressed societal challenges. The most frequently mentioned type of green and blue element is Parks and (semi-)natural urban green areas, including urban forests. Methods applied were mostly quantitative, while mixes with qualitative approaches were only apparent in ecosystem services articles. Half of the studies involved practitioners or decision-makers, but only four seemed related to real-life planning processes. Taken together, the influence of scientific literature on the uptake of greening concepts in spatial planning seems to have been limited. Future mainstreaming of greening concepts in Stockholm and beyond could benefit from available data, methods and experiences, but will require more active translation and boundary management. Further research into science-policy-planning interfaces at city scale is thus imperative to advance more sustainable pathways for people and nature in metropolitan regions.
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| 2. |
- Aguilar Cabezas, Francisco X
(författare)
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Predicting citizens' participatory behavior in urban green space governance: Application of the extended theory of planned behavior
- 2021
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Ingår i: Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. - : Elsevier BV. - 1618-8667 .- 1610-8167. ; 61
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The governance of urban green spaces (UGS) often involves a wide range of stakeholders, each with their own views, preferences, and needs. However, the traditional top-down governance of UGS has struggled to meet the needs of today?s public. By reflecting the different needs of different social groups, public participation has become one of the innovative solutions used to solve the problems of public governance, which has been a widespread concern. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study complements environmental responsibility (ER), environmental concern (EC), subjective environmental knowledge (SEK) and media influence (MI) as the factors influencing the formation of citizens? participatory attitude, and provides multiple influencing paths for increasing citizens? participatory intention and behavior. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses of the newly constructed theoretical model based on 1191 questionnaires administered face-to-face in Beijing. The results demonstrate that perceived behavioral control has the greatest positive influence on citizens? intentions and behaviors; that is, their intention and behavior to participate is strongly restricted by the objective conditions of the citizens themselves. Among the additional impact factors, expected personal gratification (EPG) also has a positive effect on intention. Local governments can increase citizens? intentions and behaviors to participate in UGS governance through two measures: one is to optimize the process of citizens? participation in UGS governance to reduce the threshold of participation; the other is to enhance the city?s infrastructure and cultural and entertainment activities to enhance citizens? environmental responsibility.
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| 3. |
- Bergs, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Values of urban greening : Voices of residents on highly intensive densification (HID) in a Swedish case study
- 2024
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Ingår i: Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. - : Elsevier. - 1618-8667 .- 1610-8167. ; 99
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Effects of planned Highly Intensive Densification (HID) were investigated in southern Eriksberg, a residential area located four km from the city center, mainly built in the 1950s in western Uppsala, Sweden according to the planning ideal Houses-in-Park. Uppsala municipality has proposed a doubling of the number of apartments in the southern part of the residential area, mostly through situating dwellings in-between existing houses and in some of the existing green places and spaces. This way of densifying by inserting an equally large area is a new approach in larger Swedish cities, which we term HID. The research presented in this paper is based on case study methodology. Method triangulation has been used to elucidate the projected consequences on urban greening of the planned HID-process in southern Eriksberg. We have analysed the development plan of Eriksberg and measurable effects but also inventoried attitudes and experiences among residents. The document study showed that an implementation of the HID plan will transform the original concept Houses-in-Park into a compact design with significant smaller green spaces in between the houses. The main result showed that most of the respondents had in general strong opinions and feelings regarding the planned loss of green structure. The courtyard green, the district green and the entrance green were highly valued by the respondents. Further on it was clear that a majority were concerned about the residential area losing its original character, planned according to the idea, Houses-in-Park.
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| 4. |
- Dawson, Lucas, et al.
(författare)
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Urban greenspace for social integration : Which types of greenspace do new-Swedes prefer and why?
- 2024
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Ingår i: Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. - 1618-8667 .- 1610-8167. ; 95
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Urban greenspace (UGS) is a key public resource offering a broad range of nature-based solutions and is increasingly looked to as a potential arena to promote social integration in Europe’s increasingly multicultural urban and peri-urban areas. However, relatively little research has explored the preferences and perceptions of immigrants in relation to UGS, especially in European contexts. Without such knowledge, planners risk entrenching planning structures that inadvertently result in segregation and environmental injustice. Using survey and participatory mapping methods with 261 immigrants in eight sampled settlements across Sweden, this study explores which types of UGS foreign-born immigrants in Sweden (i.e., new-Swedes) prefer and why. We found that new-Swedes are frequent users of a wide spectrum of UGS types, with the most preferred types including forests, large parks and lakes. The majority of respondents were satisfied with the quality (73%), availability (68%) and accessibility (76%) of UGS in their hometowns. Our regression analysis identified 51 key factors that had a meaningful effect on preferences for different types of UGS. Key factors were distributed relatively evenly across blocks of predictor variables concerning characteristics of UGS, socio-demographic factors, activity preferences, and perceptions. Our results indicate that new-Swedes’ UGS preferences are broadly comparable with those of the general population in Sweden. We found little evidence to suggest that ethnocultural factors played a major role in the preferences of our respondents. Furthermore, our results suggest that nature-connectedness might be an important determinant of new-Swedes’ UGS preferences. Based on these findings, we highlight several opportunities to further develop UGS strategies to support different dimensions of social integration, e.g., using popular UGS as interactive spaces for cultural learning, as a platform for intercultural contacts and for maintaining cultural traditions, and to contribute towards a greater sense of social membership in their new country. A crucial implication of our study is that the use of UGS to support social integration may further contribute to the increasing complexity of the UGS planning and management challenge. This implies the need for a systems perspective in UGS research, policy-making, planning and management to consider UGS as part of an integrated urban social-ecological system and to coordinate measures across sectors.
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| 5. |
- Dawson, Lucas, et al.
(författare)
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Why don't we go outside? - Perceived constraints for users of urban greenspace in Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. - : Elsevier BV. - 1618-8667 .- 1610-8167. ; 82
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Urban greenspace (UGS) is important for human wellbeing, particularly physical and mental health, and is claimed to support social cohesion. However, the expansion and densification of urban centres in recent decades has occurred largely at the expense of UGS. This risks its attractiveness for users. Although recent research has identified various factors that influence the use of UGS in different contexts, few studies have taken an explicit, bottom-up approach to understand which factors constrain willingness to use it. This study analyses responses from an online survey in Sweden (N = 2806) to identify the main constraints to UGS usage, and for whom these are constraints. Respondents could select from 22 different types of constraints – relating to incivilities, management, accessibility and availability, safety, and personal issues. Respondents could also provide comments to identify additional constraints. Incivilities were the most perceived problem. For example, litter was selected by 53% of respondents, while vandalism was selected by 24%. At the same time, many respondents perceived few or no constraints – 59% stated that nothing prevented them from using UGS, while 35% stated that they saw no problems. Safety-related and accessibility/availability constraints were not strongly identified although many respondents commented that UGS in Sweden is inadequate given the large number of users, and that the UGS that people want to use the most is often inaccessible without a car. Multiple binary logistic regression was used to investigate relationships between perceptions of constraints and fourteen predictor variables. Odds ratios were used to determine whether significant (p < 0.05) relationships were meaningful. Our findings show that different groups have starkly divergent perceptions of constraints relating to UGS. Several key factors – including age, self-reported nature-connectedness, distance to UGS, and frequency of use – were associated with a heightened likelihood of perceiving different groups of constraints. However, relationships between constraints and factors relating to environmental justice were not straightforward. These findings indicate the complexity of UGS planning challenges relating to densification, the New Urban Agenda and promotion of societal benefits, and a need to further integrate multiple user perspectives, especially of younger adults and infrequent users.
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| 6. |
- Downey, Alisen E., et al.
(författare)
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Soil carbon sequestration in urban afforestation sites in New York City
- 2021
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Ingår i: Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. - : Elsevier BV. - 1618-8667 .- 1610-8167. ; 65
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is great interest in the ability of afforestation programs to sequester carbon, improve soil health, and provide other ecological benefits to urban areas. However, the capacity of urban soils to support successful afforestation and sequester carbon is poorly understood. This study quantified soil carbon in a series of experimental restoration sites established between 2009 and 2011 as part of the MillionTreesNYC Afforestation Project in New York City. Soil cores (0-100 cm) were collected at 10 sites and analyzed for total carbon content. Data were analyzed with respect to depth (0-10, 10-30, 30-70, 70-90, 90-100 cm), high (six species) versus low (two species) diversity planting palettes, and afforestation success (high or low). Results were compared with data from regional reference forest, degraded urban sites in New York City, and disturbed and undisturbed sites in other cities. High success afforestation sites had significantly larger carbon pools than low success afforestation sites and degraded NYC sites. We suggest that these differences were created by interactions between initial site conditions that facilitated plant community establishment and growth, which in turn increased soil carbon accumulation. These initial site conditions include land use history that influences soil physical and chemical factors, as well as proximity to existing forest stands. Diversity treatments had no effect on soil carbon levels, but these may need a longer time period to emerge. These results suggest that afforestation may enhance the capacity of urban soils to store carbon compared to urban degraded soils, but that urban soil properties and site characteristics constrain this capacity.
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| 7. |
- Elbakidze, Marine, et al.
(författare)
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Multiple factors shape the interaction of people with urban greenspace : Sweden as a case study
- 2022
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Ingår i: Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. - : Elsevier BV. - 1618-8667 .- 1610-8167. ; 74
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study identifies and analyses multiple factors that impact people's interactions with urban greenspace in Sweden. An unrestricted, self-selected online survey was used to collect the data. The survey questions were related to individual characteristics of respondents, including socio-demographic characteristics, self-reported nature connectedness, and self-reported constraints to greenspace usage; perceived characteristics of urban greenspace, including its availability, quality, and accessibility, and benefits and problems; and preferences of respondents regarding types of urban greenspace and activities. Additionally, several spatially explicit variables were included in the analysis. A total of 2806 respondents from 208 (of 290) municipalities completed the survey. Our findings indicate that greenspace users are highly heterogeneous and utilise diverse green spaces along the urban-peri-urban gradient for various benefits. The statistical analyses identified 61 explanatory variables that affect the frequency of interactions with urban greenspace. In addition, we identify key factors that shape critical differences between frequent and infrequent urban users, such as nature connectedness, perceptions of urban greenspace functions, and their perceived accessibility. Our results highlight the complex challenge facing urban planners and managers of green spaces, who have to consider and integrate a vast array of factors influencing the willingness of increasingly diverse urban populations to interact with greenspace.
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| 8. |
- Emilsson, Tobias
(författare)
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Water use and drought responses of eight native herbaceous perennials for living wall systems
- 2020
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Ingår i: Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. - : Elsevier BV. - 1618-8667 .- 1610-8167. ; 54
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vertical greenery provides a number of ecosystem services, yet its potential remains underexploited in urban areas. Further, existing designs use a narrow range of species chosen for ornamental rather than environmental traits. Knowledge of species options is limited, but its importance is mounting as stormwater irrigation technologies evolve and vertical greenery’s potential as an evapotranspiration mechanism grows. To identify additional species that can maintain high water evapotranspiration in wellwatered conditions and low evapotranspiration in drought regimes, we selected eight native, herbaceous perennials from similar habitats, placed them in vertical, “green wall trays” under greenhouse conditions, and compared their growth responses to water shortages ranging from one to six weeks. Two species, Knautia arvensis and Geranium sanguineum, presented both of the desired water-use traits. More generally, species with a degree of succulence of root, shoot, or leaves dealt best with drought conditions. Armeria maritima, Campanula persicifolia and Saxifraga granulata survived the best under extended drought. The performance of Dianthus deltoides, Hypericum perforatum and Leucanthenum vulgare was inadequate for both water use and drought survival. The study confirms that the trait relevant for absolute volume of water transpiration is plant biomass. Further, irrespective of species’ drought strategy, degree of succulence is shown to have the greatest impact on a plant’s ability to survive drought.
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| 9. |
- Hedblom, Marcus
(författare)
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Landscape and soundscape quality promote stress recovery in nearby urban nature: A multisensory field experiment
- 2024
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Ingår i: Urban Forestry and Urban Greening. - 1618-8667 .- 1610-8167. ; 95
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cities have different benefits and risks, but are often stressful environments to live in. Everyday contact with nearby nature can be a crucial way to alleviate stress and increase the well-being of citizens. However, there is still limited evidence on how nature-health benefits vary according to the type and quality of natural environments. This study integrated multiple landscape and soundscape objective and perceived assessments to examine stress recovery in different types of neighbourhood nature. We used a field randomised experiment (n=45) to analyse effects of various random and fixed factors on restoration including: environmental conditions (e.g. temperature, wind, air quality), personal characteristics (e.g. age, gender, perceived health, nature connectedness), presence of other people and environmental quality (e.g. Perceived Environmental Aesthetic Qualities Scale and Perceived Sound Affective Quality scale). We found that physiological and psychological restoration is significantly greater in sites with higher visual (% visual natural elements) and acoustic (Normalized Difference Soundscape Index (NDSI)) naturalness i.e. the beach and forest, compared to the urban park (control site). Perceived landscape and soundscape quality were strongly associated with stress recovery, and these results were more pronounced for the soundscape. This highlights that soundscape quality assessments deserve more systematic attention in urban green infrastructure research and planning. Finally, we found important early evidence of reduction in Electrodermal activity (EDA) only within 3 minutes of nature exposure especially in the forest.
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| 10. |
- Hedblom, Marcus
(författare)
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Science fiction blockbuster movies – A problem or a path to urban greenery?
- 2022
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Ingår i: Urban Forestry and Urban Greening. - : Elsevier BV. - 1618-8667 .- 1610-8167. ; 74
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Urban greenery in cities is important for human health, for resilient and sustainable cities, and for flora and fauna. The importance of urban greenery is highlighted in numerous global, national and local policies. However, the rapid increase of urban sprawl and densification globally has reduced access, availability and quality of urban greenery. According to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), cities “do not know how to incorporate nature and nature contribution to people into city planning”. Perhaps this limitation is because urban planners, architects, landscape architects (urban designers) and urban ecologist (nature conservationist) view nature in cities differently. In addition, few studies on cities focus on nature and ecology. In this paper, we highlight the need to develop new designs and nature conservation approaches that promote biodiversity in cities. Science fiction (SF) and science have a history of inspiring each other and inspiring innovative solutions. For example, SF blockbusters have affected people’s engagement in climate change. Here, we evaluate how 44 of the most viewed American SF movies depict nature in cities, including diversity of species and how characters interact with nature. We reveal that these movies tend to ignore nature in their depictions of future cities. If nature is depicted in SF it is very similar to contemporary cities with monoculture lawns and ornamental gardens. Moreover, SF movies do not depict innovative ways of including nature in cityscapes, they illustrate unrealistic settings without basic ecological functions (e.g., pollinators), and their characters do not interact with nature when nature is depicted or only frame the scene as a façade. We suggest that urban designers, urban ecologists, and SF artists collaborate to imagine how to integrate nature and biodiversity into the depictions of future cities, a strategy that could help change norms about urban greenery.
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