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Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales

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A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Forestry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (21 March 2024) | Viewed by 18336

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Yuncai Wang

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Guest Editor

College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai 200070, China
Interests: landscape pattern language; landscape expression and spatial reasoning; ecosystem service of green infrastructure; environment effects

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Unprecedented urban expansion has resulted in the fragmentation of green spaces and undermines their ecosystem service provisions. Urban green spaces can not only provide recreational areas for residents, but can also maintain biodiversity, mitigate climate hazards and environmental pollution. Since preserving green spaces during urban densification is challenging, developing strategic spatial planning for green spaces is essential for sustainable urban development. With the support of information technology, numerous studies on mapping and modeling urban green spaces and their ecosystem services across spatial and temporal scales have emerged. These new technologies and models can support the strategic planning and management of urban green spaces and provide planning-based solutions to urban challenges, such as flooding, heat waves, environmental pollution, and social vulnerability.

With the negative impacts of urban expansion and densification, more studies on the theories, techniques, models, and management approaches for large spatiotemporal scale green space planning are needed. This Special Issue welcomes papers on the following topics:

(1) Spatial-temporal changes, through monitoring, analyzing, and forecasting of urban green spaces, that can support strategic spatial planning.

(2) Addressing development challenges and urban issues through strategic planning of urban green spaces.

(3) New methodologies, technologies, and models that can support urban green space planning on large spatiotemporal scales.

(4) Monitoring or simulating the effectiveness of urban green space planning schemes across long time series.

(5) Sustainable management methods used to implement strategic planning of urban green spaces.

In addition, interdisciplinary investigations that address the above-mentioned fields are welcome. However, papers that focus on landscape design at the microscopic scale are not covered in this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Yuncai Wang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainable strategic planning
ecosystem services
urban green spaces mapping and monitoring
modeling and technology-assisted planning
spatial optimization
long time-series simulation
green spaces planning management
social equity
public participation

Published Papers (14 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4802 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Attraction and Retention Green Place Images of Taipei City

by Lankyung Kim and Ching Li

Forests 2024, 15(4), 710; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15040710 - 17 Apr 2024

Viewed by 415

Abstract

This study investigates levels of green place image and their association with different types of greenspace by examining residents’ perceptions of urban greenspaces. Place image refers to an individual’s comprehensive perception of a location, formed through various interactions, and it encompasses two distinct aspects: attraction and retention. The former can be established without extensive interaction, while the latter requires deeper physical and psychological connections, such as a sense of place (SOP) and place identity (PI). Although much research on urban greenspaces has concentrated on the retention aspect, focusing on residents’ psychological, physical, social, and environmental engagements, the attraction dimension, including place brand (PB), visual image (VI), and place reputation (PR), has been less explored. This study collected data from 536 on-site surveys across four types of urban greenspaces in Taipei city: small-size greenspaces, neighborhood parks, multipurpose parks, and green corridors, and they were analyzed through factor analysis (FA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) using R software (R-4.3.3). The FA identifies two factors and their significant sub-attributes aligning with theoretical findings, i.e., attraction and retention. Further analysis using MANOVA determines that the multipurpose park is the most influential type of greenspace, significantly affecting urban residents’ development of positive green place images. These findings highlight the importance of perceiving urban greenspaces as critical areas for multi-dimensional stakeholders, suggesting a balanced approach to development and management that emphasizes both attraction and retention strategies as well as nature and built facilities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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30 pages, 6983 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Policies for Equity in Access to Urban Green Space: A Spatial Perspective of the Chinese National Forest City Policy

by Zhenyu Zhang, Jeremy Cenci and Jiazhen Zhang

Forests 2024, 15(4), 608; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15040608 - 27 Mar 2024

Viewed by 575

Abstract

The development of China’s high-density urbanisation process has made people aware of the widespread injustice in urban green space (UGS) as a means to improving residents’ well-being. The Chinese National Forest City (NFCC) policy is one of China’s construction models that aims to develop urban greening and reduce the inequality of residents’ well-being. This study used a combination of qualitative research and index quantification to explore the relationship between the spatial distribution of NFCCs and the factors affecting inequality in green space allocation and their impacts. The results of the study show that changes in indicators in NFCC policy reflect the national government’s decision-making orientation towards achieving environmental equity, and that the main factors affecting the unequal spatial distribution of NFCCs are highly correlated with inequality in UGS resources. This study analysed the NFCC policy from a new perspective and provides useful information for the development of national forest policy in order to ensure sufficient green space in China and the elimination of environmental inequity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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22 pages, 19348 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Examining the Spatial Mode, Supply–Demand Relationship, and Driving Mechanism of Urban Park Green Space: A Case Study from China

by Kaixu Zhao, Chao Chen, Jianming Wang, Kaixi Liu, Fengqi Wu and Xiaoteng Cao

Forests 2024, 15(1), 131; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15010131 - 08 Jan 2024

Viewed by 974

Abstract

Park green space is a big part of public infrastructure in cities, and how to evaluate and optimize the mismatch of urban park green space (UPGS) has become the focus of current research in academia and industry. Taking China’s 286 cities as an example, this paper used the spatial cluster and Boston Consulting Group Matrix to analyze the aggregation laws and changing modes of UPGS from 2010 to 2020, introduced the spatial mismatch model to analyze the matching of its supply and demand with GDP and population, and adopted the Geodetector to analyze the influencing factors. The findings: (1) The evolution of UPGS in China had long been characterized by a “pyramidal” pattern, i.e., limited green cities > developing green cities > steady green cities > booming green cities, exhibiting the spatial characteristics of gradient differences between the coasts and inland areas, and the aggregation of blocks in some areas. (2) The supply and demand mismatches of the UPGS were relatively stable, with negative matching being the main supply mismatch type, and positive matching being the main demand mismatch type. The contribution of supply and demand mismatches similarly showed a spatial pattern of a gradual decrease from the coast to inland and the aggregation of blocks in some areas. (3) Five types of factors played different driving roles on UPGS, with social development remaining a weak factor, and the strong factor switching from urban infrastructure to construction land scale. The interaction detection was dominated by a bilinear enhancement, with super-interaction factors changing from an output value of the tertiary industry and population urbanization rate to education expenditure in local general public budgets. (4) Based on the mismatch between the supply and demand for UPGS in China, 286 cities were classified into four types, namely a smart shrinking zone, smart growing zone, status quo zone, and overlay policy zone, and differentiated development proposals for the corresponding zoning were put forward. This paper constructed an application framework of “evolution pattern + supply demand match + driving factors + policy zoning” for UPGS at a large scale, which will effectively enhance the effective allocation of its resources across the country. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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19 pages, 9417 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Multi-Scale Spatial Heterogeneity of Ecosystem Services’ Supply–Demand Matching and Its Influencing Factors on Urban Green Space in China

by Wudong Zhao, Xupu Li, Liwei Zhang, Lixian Peng, Yu Liu, Zhuangzhuang Wang, Lei Jiao and Hao Wang

Forests 2023, 14(10), 2091; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14102091 - 18 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1086

Abstract

As population growth and urbanization continue to accelerate, city dwellers are increasingly conscious of the demand for urban green space (UGS) and the ecosystem services (ESs) it provides. Great efforts are made for the supply of certain ESs in UGS. However, less is known about the residents’ preferences and the supply–demand matching of UGS types, as well as the various ESs it provides at different spatial scales. Given this, our research establishes a research framework to reveal the heterogeneity of USG types and the supply–demand matching degree (SDM) of ESs from municipal, provincial, and national spatial scales, and examines the correlation between the influencing factors and demands of residents for UGS. This study mainly used the Gini coefficient, the Lorenz curve, Z-scores, the Jenks natural breaks classification method, Pearson correlation analysis, and spatial analysis. The main findings are that (1) the Gini coefficients are 0.433 and 0.137 at the municipal and provincial scales, respectively, indicating that the supply of UGS is more unequal at the municipal scale than provincial scale; (2) the multi-scale demand for ESs between residents has no significant difference. At the provincial scale, the area with low demand is larger than that of high demand, while at the municipal scale, the contrary is the case; (3) the SDM was in a deficit at both the provincial and municipal scales. And as the scaling-up occurred, the spatial heterogeneity of the SDM decreased; (4) the number of influencing factors that significantly affected the UGS type and ESs grew as the scale increased. Among them, the impact of age and COVID-19 on three scales deserves attention. These results identify regions with deficits and surpluses in ESs provided by UGS in China at different scales. This research also advises that attention should be paid to the distribution of UGS between cities within provinces, and future UGS planning should focus on building regional green spaces to promote the well-being of an aging society. The findings in this study would offer insights for managers to improve UGS construction and urban forestry planning in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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30 pages, 69506 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Accessibility Improvement and Renewal of Urban Park Green Space for the Elderly and the Disabled

by Ranyang Zhang, Lei Huang and Hui Wang

Forests 2023, 14(9), 1801; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14091801 - 04 Sep 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1746

Abstract

With the global population aging, balancing urban development with the social lives of the elderly and disabled has become an important issue. Network analysis was employed as the primary research method, utilizing tools such as Network Analysis on the ArcGIS platform and Python. To enhance the applicability of the analytical model in population demand and travel characteristic studies, a dataset was established based on the behavioral characteristics of elderly and disabled individuals. Resistance values and evaluation indicators were selected for this purpose. We summarized the travel preferences of the elderly and disabled and proposed corresponding accessibility optimization strategies. Through the analysis of the experimental results, we believe that setting the optimization goal as a 10-min walk for the elderly and a 500-m walk for the disabled to access parks and green spaces is reasonable. Additionally, the service area ratio and service population ratio should exceed 90% to ensure equitable access to the ecological services of urban parks for the elderly and disabled population. We also found that connecting and extending linear green spaces are of significant importance in improving green space accessibility, because linear green spaces have more entrances and exits than dot green spaces and area green spaces. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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36 pages, 6612 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimizing Landscape Structure of Hybrid Land Use in Ecological Corridors Based on Comprehensive Benefit Index in Metropolitan Area

by Jiake Shen and Yuncai Wang

Forests 2023, 14(9), 1714; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14091714 - 25 Aug 2023

Viewed by 790

Abstract

As an inherent part of the landscape ecological network (LEN), the ecological corridor is the bridge between ecological sources and also the key to ensuring urban ecological security. Existing studies on ecological corridors mostly stay in the large scale of landscape patterns and lack guidance for corridor structure design or optimization at the land use level. To provide a reference for the internal landscape structure adjustment of the ecological corridor composed of hybrid land use in the rapidly urbanized areas, first, we constructed the “Comprehensive benefit index of ecological corridors I” by using the three indexes of “Ecological benefit enhancement potential”, “Economic input cost” and “Social coordination cost”. Second, with the goal of maximizing the comprehensive benefits of the three aspects of ecological corridor construction, we established a functional relationship between the converted agricultural land area A, constructed land area C, and index I to determine the optimal proportion of agricultural lands and constructed lands converted into ecological lands within the planning scope of the ecological corridors. The results show that (1) according to the conversion ratio, the ecological corridors in the study area can be divided into three degrees of conversion rate: low, moderate, and high. (2) Among the 66 ecological corridors, the agricultural lands in 26 ecological corridors and the constructed lands in 35 ecological corridors need to be converted into ecological land at a high ratio to ensure the comprehensive benefits of the corresponding corridors. We also put forward suggestions for landscape structure adjustment and optimization for ecological corridors with different conversion degrees. This method can help balance the benefits of different stakeholders in the city and implement the results of ecological corridor planning on a large spatial and temporal scale at the land use level. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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27 pages, 57145 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identification of Bird Habitat Restoration Priorities in a Central Area of a Megacity

by Yuncai Wang, Xinghao Lu, Ruojing Wang, Yifei Jia and Junda Huang

Forests 2023, 14(8), 1689; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14081689 - 21 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1157

Abstract

Rapid global urbanization has caused habitat degradation and fragmentation, resulting in biodiversity loss and the homogenization of urban species. Birds play a crucial role as biodiversity indicators in urban environments, providing multiple ecosystem services and demonstrating sensitivity to changes in habitat. However, construction activities often disrupt urban bird habitats, leading to a decline in habitat quality. This paper proposes a framework for prioritizing habitat restoration by pinpointing bird hotspots that demand attention and considering the matching relationship between bird richness and habitat quality. Shanghai represents a typical example of the high-density megacities in China, posing a significant challenge for biodiversity conservation efforts. Utilizing the random forest (RF) model, bird richness patterns in central Shanghai were mapped, and bird hotspots were identified by calculating local spatial autocorrelation indices. From this, the habitat quality of hotspot areas was evaluated, and the restoration priority of bird habitats was determined by matching bird richness with habitat quality through z-score standardization. The results were as follows: (1) Outer-ring green spaces, large urban parks, and green areas along coasts or rivers were found to be the most important habitats for bird richness. Notably, forests emerged as a crucial habitat, with approximately 50.68% of the forested areas identified as hotspots. (2) Four habitat restoration types were identified. The high-bird-richness–low-habitat-quality area (HBR-LHQ), mainly consisting of grassland and urban construction land, was identified as a key priority for restoration due to its vulnerability to human activities. (3) The Landscape Shannon’s Diversity Index (SHDI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are considered the most significant factors influencing the bird distribution. Our findings provide a scientifically effective framework for identifying habitat restoration priorities in high-density urban areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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24 pages, 9411 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Using Social Media Text Data to Analyze the Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Daily Urban Green Space Usage—A Case Study of Xiamen, China

by Chenjing Fan, Shiqi Li, Yuxin Liu, Chenxi Jin, Lingling Zhou, Yueying Gu, Zhenyu Gai, Runhan Liu and Bing Qiu

Forests 2023, 14(8), 1569; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14081569 - 31 Jul 2023

Viewed by 994

Abstract

While urban green spaces (UGSs) are important places for residents’ leisure activities, studies describing the long-term daily UGS usage of residents (including the total number of activities, the types of activities, and the touring experience) have not been conducted due to difficulties in data collection. Based on social media text data (SMTD), in this study, the total number of daily activities, the intensities of optional and social activities, and the daily touring experience in 100 UGSs in Xiamen, China, were inferred based on the ERNIE 3.0 text pre-training semantic classification model. Based on this, linear regression modeling was applied to analyze the internal environmental factors of the effects of places and external urban form factors regarding daily UGS usage. The research results revealed the following. (1) A descriptive study was conducted on the total numbers, types, and touring experience of activities using SMTD, and the results were verified by line transect surveys, management statistics, and a publicly available dataset. (2) The number of human activities in UGSs was found to be significantly influenced by historical and cultural facilities, nighttime lighting, population density, and the proportion of the floating population. (3) During the daytime, optional activities were found to be significantly influenced by the park type and historical and cultural facilities, and social activities were found to be significantly influenced by historical and cultural facilities and population density. In the evening, optional activities were found to be significantly influenced by the park type, historical and cultural facilities, nighttime lighting, and the proportion of the floating population, and social activities were found to be influenced by the proportion of the floating population. (4) Regarding the touring experience, in the daytime, the park type, green space ratio, and proportion of the floating population had significant effects on the touring experience. In the evening, the park type, historical and cultural facilities, and security factors were found to have significant effects on the touring experience. The methodology and findings of this study aid in the understanding of the differences in daytime and nighttime activities, and in the discovery of planning tools to promote human leisure activities in UGSs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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15 pages, 9887 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identification of Redundant Patches in Early Urbanized Areas Based on mRMR + SVM

by Xiaolei Zhang, Bo Li, Hongyan Xiao, Chunlan Du and Meng He

Forests 2023, 14(7), 1477; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14071477 - 19 Jul 2023

Viewed by 735

Abstract

Rapid global urbanization has inevitably led to habitat fragmentation, and much research has focused on responding by building ecological networks and improving connectivity. The construction of such post-event ecological networks is sometimes not effective, and the identification and protection of important patches in the early urbanization period is more significant. Based on the redundancy theory, this paper explores the method of identifying potential critical habitat patches after future urban development. The paper takes the Longxing area of Chongqing city as an example and uses the cumulative current value results of circuit theory model simulations and patch characteristic attribute information as sample data, introduces a combination of the minimal-redundancy-maximal-relevance criterion and a support vector machine (mRMR + SVM) to discriminate the redundancy of patches in ecological networks, and ranks the importance of source patches. The results show that the mRMR criterion can exhibit a more realistic ranking of patch importance, allowing patches with better quality to achieve a higher ranking. Compared to the patch importance determined based on the magnitude of the cumulative current value, 66.34% of the patch importance order changed in the mRMR criterion ranking results. The mRMR + SVM method was effective in identifying individuals with redundancy from the set of source-site patches. The test found that ecological corridors still passed through or occurred near these redundant patches after their removal, demonstrating the substitutability of patches identified as redundant. The results of the study can help improve the knowledge of ecological networks and provide quantitative methodological support and decision-making reference for urban development and ecological conservation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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17 pages, 4063 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Urban Forest Ecological Benefit Based on the i-Tree Eco Model—A Case Study of Changchun Central City

by Hongyu Zhao, Dongliang Zhao, Xue Jiang, Shiyu Zhang and Zhanlue Lin

Forests 2023, 14(7), 1304; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14071304 - 25 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1237

Abstract

Urban forests are one of the most ecologically significant systems in urban ecosystems. To make the layout and input–output ratio of urban forests more economically rational for sustainable strategic planning, it is necessary to assess the ecological benefits and ecosystem services of urban forests according to the local geographical characteristics of different cities and analyse their cost–benefit relationships. In this study, the i-Tree Eco model was used to assess the ecological benefits of urban forests in terms of four aspects: carbon sequestration and oxygen release, energy saving, rainwater retention, and air quality improvement. To translate them into economic benefits, using mathematical and statistical analysis, the cost–benefit relationship of urban forests with different tree and shrub proportions was analysed, and the impact range of urban forests with different layout types was compared. The research found that: (1) tree species are the main influencing factor of urban forest ecological benefits, (2) linear urban forests have a wider impact range, (3) if the proportion of trees in urban forests in the research area is adjusted to 0.36, the ecological benefits can increase by RMB 0.061 billion per year. We provide efficient and convenient research paths and tools for studying the cost–benefit relationship. By using an i-Tree Eco model, we realized the economic characteristics of urban forests. This research provides quantitative support for the balanced construction of urban ecological civilization and economic benefits. It can provide quantitative support for a balance between urban ecological development, economic development, and spatial optimization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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24 pages, 7115 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Green Space Availability in Ufa City Metropolis

by Irina Rakhmatullina, Zagir Rakhmatullin, Gleb Zaitsev, Alexandr Davydychev, Galia Gilmanova and Mikhail Komissarov

Forests 2023, 14(7), 1297; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14071297 - 24 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1427

Abstract

For the administrative districts of the city of Ufa (the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia), the distribution of green spaces, including public green spaces, the degree of greening, and the accessible green spaces per resident, were analysed. Green spaces were estimated to be available for the citizens within 400 m (for multi-story building areas), 800 m (for low-rise building areas), and 1250 m (for all residential areas). The analysis relies on open geographic system tools and open spatial data. Data are compared with existing governmental regulations and recommendations. Green stands to cover approximately 35% of the city area (indicating that Ufa is one of the greenest among the 16 million-plus Russian cities), and most forest sites are located outside the city centre. Meanwhile, public green spaces cover less than 5% of the city and are unevenly spread across administrative urban districts. The major recreation facilities are situated in the city centre. Despite the high level of greening in Ufa on the whole, access to public areas in multi-story building areas within a 400 m radius and low-rise building areas within an 800 m radius is not guaranteed for city residents. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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31 pages, 13839 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identifying Cultural Ecosystem Services and Relevant Landscape Elements Provided by Urban Green Space throughout History from an Information Communication Perspective

by Wei Gao, Siyou Wang, Shaotao Chen, Shengjie Hu and Hui Li

Forests 2023, 14(5), 1045; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14051045 - 18 May 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1565

Abstract

Throughout the long history of urban expansion and development, some of the natural mountains, lakes, and rivers that were once located on the outskirts of a city have gradually been encircled within it and have become nature in the urban, i.e., they are now in the heart of the city. These are not only green infrastructure for contemporary cities; they have also accumulated a rich cultural heritage and are closely related to the physical health and subjective well-being of city dwellers. The objectives of this study were: (1) to identify the no-material services that the public perceives from UGSs throughout history that contribute to subjective well-being; (2) to analyze which landscape elements are associated with the provision of such services and then to clarify the value of UGSs throughout history and provide a theoretical basis for urban managers. We returned to the original concept of cultural services (information services) to understand how UGSs throughout history, as information sources, have provided subjective well-being to specific groups of people. And we build a classification system for information services based on this understanding. Based on existing research methods on cultural services, we found that collecting information carriers such as texts, images, and interview transcripts is a more effective way to identifying the intangible services provided by a landscape than monetary methods. From understanding of the information communication process, we attempted to integrate the supply and demand indicators of information services. We validated the feasibility of the method of information service identification using Yuexiu Hill in Guangzhou, which has a construction history of 2000 years, as an example. Through the word frequency statistics of 1063 ancient poems (a type of information carrier), elements of the historical landscape of Yuexiu Hill and the information services provided in the past were identified. After that, semantic networks were constructed to analyze the association between elements and services. The results of this study show that information service identification is an effective method of analyzing the effect of the promotion of UGSs throughout history on the subjective well-being of the public. The provision of information services depends on the accumulation and dissemination of environmental information; both natural and cultural elements, especially symbolic elements, play an important role in this process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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14 pages, 2206 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatial Optimization with Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis for Green Space Conservation Planning

by Jinyao Lin, Yijuan Zeng and Yuqi He

Forests 2023, 14(5), 1031; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14051031 - 17 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1852

Abstract

Conservation areas are essential for preserving green spaces and biological diversity. Although previous studies have demonstrated that spatial optimization techniques are effective for balancing the relationship between ecological importance and spatial pattern during conservation practices, the design of ecological corridors still requires an efficient, intelligent, and flexible workflow. In addition, functional connectivity information is usually unavailable or very difficult to obtain. To alleviate these problems, this paper has developed a new spatial optimization-based model that combines morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) with ecological importance assessment. The consideration of MSPA can guarantee enough ecological corridors in the conservation plan, while the regions with higher ecological importance can be discovered through an ecological importance assessment. This method has been applied to the planning of conservation areas in a highly developed city. Several experiments have indicated that our proposed model could achieve much better performance than conventional models in terms of spatial pattern. Therefore, this new model is expected to assist decision processes during the planning and regulation of green spaces in fragmented urban ecosystems. Furthermore, it can be applied to ecological management and planning in many other aspects because the above-mentioned research gaps are not unique to only Asian or less-developed countries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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19 pages, 6252 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatial and Temporal Changes of Habitat Quality and Its Influential Factors in China Based on the InVEST Model

by Chunyu Chen, Jin Liu and Linglan Bi

Forests 2023, 14(2), 374; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14020374 - 13 Feb 2023

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2431

Abstract

The loss of biodiversity is one of the three global crises today. How to reduce habitat destruction and overexploitation to protect biodiversity is an urgent issue to be addressed. This study aims to explore the influential factors and driving mechanisms of habitat quality to find ways to reduce the interference of human activities on habitat quality. This paper evaluates the habitat quality in 30 provinces of China from 2010 to 2020 using the InVEST model and studies its geospatial differences by spatial auto-correlation. Then it investigates the influencing factors and driving mechanisms based on Geodetector and proposes strategies to improve habitat quality for different regions. The study shows that first, habitat quality is not distributed homogeneously in Chinese provinces, and habitat quality varies widely among different regions in the structure. Second, factors have different influences on habitat quality, which can be grouped into “key factors” and “auxiliary factors”. Its driving forces vary greatly over time, with per capita water resources, nighttime light index, area of afforested land, forest area, and destructed forest area as key factors in both 2010 and 2020. Third, the factor pairs are all bifactor or non-linear enhanced, showing that two factors have a stronger combined effect on habitat quality than a single factor. In particular, factors such as per capita water resources and area of afforested land in very strong interactions with others. Fourth, corresponding strategies are proposed for different regions in China to improve habitat quality according to the analysis of the spatial inequality of habitat quality and its driving mechanism, providing a reference for relevant regions abroad. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning of Urban Green Space in Large Spatiotemporal Scales)

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