Asset or Liability? Ecological and Sociological Tradeoffs of Urban Spontaneous Vegetation on Vacant Land in Shrinking Cities

Riley, Christopher B.; Perry, Kayla I.; Ard, Kerry; Gardiner, Mary M.

doi:10.3390/su10072139

Cited by 68 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 165 publications

(307 reference statements)

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“…Many cities in the Midwest of the United States have experienced protracted population decline over the last several decades, and this pattern can be seen with each of the three case study cities in this region (Table 3) [58,65]. Severe urban population decline often results in the proliferation of minimally managed vacant land, which can serve as suitable habit for the establishment of spontaneous vegetation communities that in time can increase UTCC [9,66]. When considering that each of the Midwestern study cities also occur within the Eastern Temperate Forest ecoregion and have historically been heavily forested, this phenomenon might be contributing to these cities having the most UTCC per CBG of any region examined (Table 4) [64].…”

Section: City Descriptionsmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Such a phenomenon could potentially explain the positive relationships we observed between the variables percent minority and UTCC and ESD in many of the Midwest study cities, patterns that did not exist for study cities on the East or West Coast where shrinkage is not nearly as pronounced if occurring at all. While these findings would suggest that minority populations in these cities might have greater access to UTCC, the reality may be that the green spaces that are dominated by spontaneous vegetation are of low quality or even yield an excess of environmental disamenities [66].…”

Section: Additional Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…In cities that have experienced protracted economic decline, vacant land proliferates within neglected inner-city neighborhoods that are often predominately composed of vulnerable populations [58,87]. In the absence of regular vegetation management and upkeep, the plant communities on vacant land can undergo succession resulting in an increase in UTCC levels [66], particularly in ecoregions where forests typify the climax community. For example, in the shrinking city of Toledo, Ohio, a weakening relationship was observed between housing vacancy and greenness (as measured through the normalized difference vegetation index; NDVI) between 1980 and 2014 [88].…”

Section: Additional Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Examining the distributional equity of urban tree canopy cover and ecosystem services across United States cities

Riley

Gardiner

2020

PLoS ONE

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Examining the distributional equity of urban tree canopy cover (UTCC) has increasingly become an important interdisciplinary focus of ecologists and social scientists working within the field of environmental justice. However, while UTCC may serve as a useful proxy for the benefits provided by the urban forest, it is ultimately not a direct measure. In this study, we quantified the monetary value of multiple ecosystem services (ESD) provisioned by urban forests across nine U.S. cities. Next, we examined the distributional equity of UTCC and ESD using a number of commonly investigated socioeconomic variables. Based on trends in the literature, we predicted that UTCC and ESD would be positively associated with the variables median income and percent with an undergraduate degree and negatively associated with the variables percent minority, percent poverty, percent without a high school degree, percent renters, median year home built, and population density. We also predicted that there would be differences in the relationships between each response variable (UTCC and ESD) and the suite of socioeconomic predictor variables examined because of differences in how each response variable is derived. We utilized methods promoted within the environmental justice literature, including a multi-city comparative analysis, the incorporation of high-resolution social and environmental datasets, and the use of spatially explicit models. Patterns between the socioeconomic variables and UTCC and ESD did not consistently support our predictions, highlighting that inequities are generally not universal but rather context dependent. Our results also illustrated that although the variables UTCC and ESD had largely similar relationships with the predictor variables, differences did occur between them. Future distributional equity research should move beyond the use of proxies for environmental amenities when possible while making sure to consider that the use of ecosystem service estimates may result in different patterns with socioeconomic variables of interest. Based on our findings, we conclude that understanding and remedying the challenges associated with inequities requires an understanding of the local social-ecological system if larger sustainability goals are to be achieved.

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Section: City Descriptionsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Additional Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Additional Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Examining the distributional equity of urban tree canopy cover and ecosystem services across United States cities

Riley

Gardiner

2020

PLoS ONE

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“…Hence, the use of IGS has been proposed as an anti-gentrification strategy [ 76 ]. Furthermore, IGS is an emerging topic in urban greening research and plays a valuable role in providing a number of ecological and sociological benefits for urban residents [ 77 , 78 ]. IGS has no monetary cost of plant establishment or persistence and has the potential to improve human health and wellbeing and connect residents with nature [ 78 ].…”

Section: Green Space Availability and Novel Approaches For The Desmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modern Compact Cities: How Much Greenery Do We Need?

Russo

Cirella

2018

IJERPH

210

112

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The modern compact city is identified as a high-density and mixed-use pattern. Its features are believed to contribute to a form of functional urban design that supports sustainability and, restresses, the importance of ecosystem services. Urban green space (UGS) plays a vital role in the design and impact on how compact cities have developed and triggered a scientific discord on the amount of greenery individuals require and to what extent contemporary approaches address the question. Research points to at least 9 m2 of green space per individual with an ideal UGS value of 50 m2 per capita. An examination on the perception, use, quality, accessibility and health risks of urban green and blue spaces is explored, alongside the availability of novel UGS and greenery-related approaches that investigate compact city design and planning for health and wellbeing. The amount of ‘green’ and relating UGS availability in cities indicates vital knowledge modern compact cities must consider.

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“…Emerging forests in particular, including abundant alien tree species, have been shown to provide a range of regulating ecosystem services on vacant land [44,46]. Moreover, they constitute informal greenspaces [190] supporting manifold social uses and cultural services [191][192][193]. Importantly, these ecosystem services are being delivered without the use of resources to produce plants and carry out landscaping and maintenance; thus they have a low CO 2 footprint.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging Urban Forests: Opportunities for Promoting the Wild Side of the Urban Green Infrastructure

et al. 2019

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Many cities aim to increase urban forest cover to benefit residents through the provision of ecosystem services and to promote biodiversity. As a complement to traditional forest plantings, we address opportunities associated with “emerging urban forests” (i.e., spontaneously developing forests in cities) for urban biodiversity conservation. We quantified the area of successional forests and analyzed the species richness of native and alien plants and of invertebrates (carabid beetles, spiders) in emerging forests dominated by alien or native trees, including Robinia pseudoacacia, Acer platanoides, and Betula pendula. Emerging urban forests were revealed as shared habitats of native and alien species. Native species richness was not profoundly affected by the alien (co-)dominance of the canopy. Instead, native and alien plant species richnesses were positively related. Numbers of endangered plants and invertebrates did not differ between native- and alien-dominated forest patches. Patterns of tree regeneration indicate different successional trajectories for novel forest types. We conclude that these forests (i) provide habitats for native and alien species, including some endangered species, (ii) allow city dwellers to experience wild urban nature, and (iii) support arguments for adapting forests to dynamic urban environments. Integrating emerging urban forests into the urban green infrastructure is a promising pathway to sustainable cities and can complement traditional restoration or greening approaches.

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Asset or Liability? Ecological and Sociological Tradeoffs of Urban Spontaneous Vegetation on Vacant Land in Shrinking Cities

Cited by 68 publications

References 165 publications

Examining the distributional equity of urban tree canopy cover and ecosystem services across United States cities

Examining the distributional equity of urban tree canopy cover and ecosystem services across United States cities

Modern Compact Cities: How Much Greenery Do We Need?

Emerging Urban Forests: Opportunities for Promoting the Wild Side of the Urban Green Infrastructure

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