Perceived changes in well-being and happiness with gardening in urban organic allotments in Portugal

Urban allotment gardens (AG) in Portugal have increased in recent years, as in many other European countries and worldwide. The contribution of these gardens to the happiness and well-being of urban populations has been recognized, but evaluations of their benefits are still very scarce. The objective of this study was to evaluate this contribution, based on the urban organic AG of the Devesa Park in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal. The sample included 65 gardeners who completed the self-administered questionnaires of Bem-Estar Pessoal (personal well-being scale), Felicidade Subjetiva (subjective happiness scale) and sociodemographic characteristics. Respondents were mainly adults under 65 years, married and academically well qualified and about half of them had a professional activity, with nearly one third being retired. They considered themselves happy with their life (Personal Well-being Index = 74.5%) and revealed an optimistic and positive attitude towards life, regardless of economic or social difficulties. The increased frequency of visits for gardening was positively related to a greater perception of subjective happiness. The gardeners who visited the AG more frequently considered themselves happier from a self-perspective and in comparison with peers. It can be suggested that urban organic AG represent a means for enhancing citizen well-being, contributing positively to their feelings of happiness and life satisfaction, changing behaviours and developing personal capacities. Beyond economic measures, urban AG can be recommended to capture the well-being of societies.     

Unregulated urban sprawl and spatial distribution of fire events: evidence from Greece

Fire events are an annual phenomenon in Greece with damages and even casualties, making their understanding and management important. In this paper, we present fire events provided by NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System and place them along a number of spatial types defined by relief and land cover classes. Results demonstrate that the occurrence of fire events is related more to some land cover classes than others. The most important in terms of overall frequency in all types of terrain is ‘Agricultural Areas’, as a result of farming practices that involve fire. The second more important type of areas is ‘Artificial Surfaces’, especially in low lying areas. These events are related to urban growth and sprawl and are very often a direct outcome of speculation practices with land properties, encouraged by the absence or poor implementation of spatial planning.     

The global distribution of human population and recent volcanism

Abstract

This study quantifies the spatial relationship between the global distribution of human population and recent volcanism. Using recently compiled databases of population and Holocene volcanoes, we estimate that almost 9% (455 × 10⁶ people) of the world's 1990 population lived within 100km of an historically active volcano and 12% within 100km of a volcano believed to have been active during the last 10,000 years. The analysis also indicates that average population density generally decreases with distance from these volcanoes (within 200 km). In tropical areas, the elevation and fertile soils associated with volcanic regions can provide incentives for agrarian populations to settle close to potentially active volcanoes. In Southeast Asia and Central America higher population densities lie in closer proximity to volcanoes than in other volcanic regions. In Japan and Chile, population density tends to increase with distance from volcanoes. The current trends of rapid urbanization and sustained population growth in tropical developing countries, combined with agricultural intensification of fertile volcanic terrains could alter the relationship between humans and volcanoes so as to increase both local and global consequences of volcanic eruptions in the future.     

An approach to evaluation of sustainability for Guangzhou's urban ecosystem

Guangzhou has ambitions to build itself into a world class metropolis by 2010. Sustainable development is the only way to achieve this magnificent goal. Based on the ecological perspective of sustainable development and the principles of ecosystem integrity, this paper develops an approach for evaluation of sustainable development in Guangzhou between 1986 and 1995. A hierarchical evaluation system of four tiers of sustainability indicators was established. Using the method of fuzzy multistage synthetic evaluation, sustainability development level index, QIx, was calculated for the indicators at the B, C, D, and E tiers. Development stages were identified based on these index values. The coordination degree among the economic, social, and natural subsystems was also computed. Further, an overall sustainability index for each year was computed by combining the development level index and the coordination degree. It was found that the urban ecosystem in Guangzhou had generally become more sustainable, in spite of fluctuations in coordination degree. The development level index of the economic subsystem has surpassed that of social and natural subsystems since 1995. Appropriate measures must be taken to ensure coordinated development among the subsystems for the purpose of sustainable development.     

浅谈城市绿化建设

城市绿化是改善城市生态环境,提升城市形象,提高城市居民生活质量的有效途径之一.笔者提出了城市绿化的概念和内涵,提出了城市绿化必须坚持的三个原则:生态原则、坚持景观效应、坚持经济原则,分析了当前我国城市绿化存在的主要问题,并提出了改进的思路和措施.参10.     

Modeling the carbon cycle of urban systems

Although more than 80% of carbon dioxide emissions originate in urban areas, the role of human settlements in the biosphere evolution and in global carbon cycling remains largely neglected. Understanding the relationships between the form and pattern of urban development and the carbon cycle is however crucial for estimating future trajectories of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and can facilitate mitigation of climate change. In this paper I review state-of-the-art in modeling of urban carbon cycle. I start with the properties of urban ecosystems from the ecosystem theory point of view. Then I discuss key elements of an urban system and to which degree they are represented in the existing models. In conclusions I highlight necessity of including biophysical as well as human related carbon fluxes in an urban carbon cycle model and necessity of collecting relevant data.     

Urban expansion and its contribution to the regional carbon emissions: Using the model based on the population density distribution

The method is used for calculating regional urban area dynamics and the resulting carbon emissions (from the land-conversion) for the period of 1980 till 2050 for the eight world regions. This approach is based on the fact that the spatial distribution of population density is close to the two-parametric Γ-distribution [Kendall, M.G., Stuart, A., 1958. The Advanced Theory of Statistics, vol. 1.2. Academic Press, New York; Vaughn, R., 1987. Urban Spatial Traffic Patterns, Pion, London]. The developed model provides us with the scenario of urbanisation, based on which the regional and world dynamics of carbon emissions and export from cities, and the annual total urban carbon balance are estimated. According to our estimations, world annual emissions of carbon as a result of urbanisation increase up to 1.25 GtC in 2005 and begin to decrease afterwards. If we compare the emission maximum with the annual emission caused by deforestation, 1.36 GtC per year, then we can say that the role of urbanised territories (UT) in the global carbon balance is of a comparable magnitude. Regarding the world annual export of carbon from UT, we observe its monotonous growth by three times, reaching 505 MtC. The latter, is comparable to the amount of carbon transported by rivers into the ocean (196–537 MtC). The current model shows that urbanisation is inhibited in the interval 2020–2030, and by 2050 the growth of urbanised areas would almost stop. Hence, the total balance, being almost constant until 2000, then starts to decrease at an almost constant rate. By the end of the XXI century, the total carbon balance will be equal to zero, with the exchange flows fully balanced, and may even be negative, with the system beginning to take up carbon from the atmosphere, i.e., becomes a “sink”. The regional dynamics is somewhat more complex, i.e., some regions, like China, Asia and Pacific are being active sources of Carbon through the studied period, while others are changing from source to sink or continue to be neutral in respect the GCC.     

Nitrogen budget and its environmental loading in an urban ecosystem with the rapid urbanisation of China

A detailed nitrogen (N) budget has been developed for an urban ecosystem based on the method of material flow analysis. How increased human activity and urbanisation influences N cycling have also been analysed. Total N input and output in the urban ecosystem of Zhengzhou City (ZUE) was calculated at 304.8?Gg was 275.3?Gg year^?1, resulting in an N accumulation of 29.5?Gg year^?1. Industry and human life activities, which respectively accounted for 43.8% and 34.2% of total N inputs and 52.6% and 29.1% of total N outputs, were the core of N flow in the urban ecosystem. Humans activities mediated more than 98% N inputs into the ZUE, 73.2% of N was released into the atmosphere and 11.7% into hydrosphere. This very large volume of released N could contribute to regional problems. High energy consumption, insufficient wastewater treatment facility practices, and low N use efficiency are the primary causes of pollution. The major challenge ahead for the urban ecosystem is how to manage high-intensity N pollutant inputs to the urban ecosystems coupled with incomplete N cycling and removal. Based on the analysis of the N budget and loading, this study also proposes an N management strategy for the ZUE.     

Community structure and biotic integrity of aquatic plants along the North Canal in Beijing北大核心CSCD

Aquatic plants along the North Canal in Beijing were studied to identify the community structure of aquatic plants and vegetation index of biotic integrity (VIBI), and to provide scientific basis for the management and protection of urban rivers. Aquatic plants from 49 sampling sites along the North Canal were investigated during June 2015. Based on the field data, distributing range analysis, discriminatory power analysis, and correlation analysis were used stepwise to select core metrics from candidate metrics to establish the VIBI assessment system. The VIBI value of each sampling site was calculated as the average of the scaled values of all core metrics. Thirty-six aquatic plant species, including 14 hygrophytes, 13 emergent species, 6 submergent species, 2 floating-leaved species, and 1 floating species were collected. Species diversity was low in the North Canal, and no aquatic plants were recorded in 28 sampling sites, of which 9 sampling sites were dried up. Five sites were in excellent condition (VIBI > 0.60), 5 were good (0.60 > VIBI > 0.38), 7 were fair (0.38 > VIBI > 0.23), and 4 were poor (VIBI < 0.23). Based on the distribution of VIBI, Shahe River and Wenyu River upstream, and Fenghe River located in suburbs had a higher VIBI. Downstream tributaries, such as Qinghe River, Bahe River, and Liangshui River, had a lower VIBI. Correlation analysis showed that habitat quality, habitat complexity, and vegetation diversity along riparian zones were the important factors affecting VIBI along the North Canal, Beijing. Aquatic plants along the North Canal showed low species diversity owing to human disturbance. VIBI along tributaries with limited disturbance from human activities was higher; however, VIBI along tributaries disturbed by frequent human activities was lower. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Assessment and management of urbanization-induced ecological risks

The urban ecological risk incurred during the processes of urbanization has been constantly accumulating, creating a severe challenge for China to achieve sustainable urban development. At present, research on systematic evaluation of urban ecological risks is still inadequate, especially at an urban ecosystem level. In this special issue, we use Xiamen City as an example to identify the sources and receptors of urban ecological risks, to develop a methodology system of urban ecological risk assessment, and to propose a method for the management of urban ecological risks. This special issue contains 11 research articles resulting from a comprehensive research project funded by China’s National Natural Science Foundation. The innovations reported in this special issue include a framework of urban ecological risk assessment and a standardized procedure for carrying out urban ecological risk assessment using multiple stressors and endpoints.