scholarly journals The Impact of Decommissioning Cemeteries on the Urban Ecosystem

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9303
Author(s):  
Anna Myślińska ◽  
Jakub Szczepański ◽  
Witold Dłubakowski

The decommissioning of cemeteries noticeably transforms the urban fabric. The purpose of this article was to determine what impact the decommissioning of cemeteries has on the urban ecosystem. For this purpose, it was necessary to assess the value of cemeteries within the urban ecosystem. Cemeteries are classified as urban green spaces, and their value as preservers of flora and fauna in local ecosystems has been proven. However, numerous decaying bodies in one place could have adverse effects on the environment. In order to assess the impact of transforming cemetery areas for other uses in the context of sustainable city development, it is necessary to define what these other functions might be. This article presents the main reasons for decommissioning cemeteries and links them with subsequent land use. The history of cemetery locations in five major Polish cities was analyzed to determine the extent to which cemeteries were decommissioned. In the two cities with the highest number of decommissioned cemeteries, further research was carried out in order to establish the typical land use of these former cemeteries, whether this usage is related to the size or type of the former cemetery, and whether change in land use is an advantage or a disadvantage for the urban ecosystem.

Author(s):  
Bianca Lopez ◽  
Christopher Kennedy ◽  
Timon McPhearson

Urban green spaces provide a range of environmental and health benefits, which may become even more critical during times of crisis such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, with a radical shift in mobility, additional concerns over safety, and access temporarily restricted during the implementation of social distancing policies, the experience and use of urban green spaces may be reduced. This is particularly concerning for densely populated cities like New York, considered the first U.S. epicenter or vanguard of the outbreak. To better understand the impact of COVID-19 on the perception and use of urban green spaces, we conducted a social survey during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic in New York City (May 13 - June 15, 2020). The results of the survey show respondents continued to use urban green spaces during the pandemic and consider them to be more important for mental and physical health than before the pandemic began. However, the study revealed a pattern of concerns residents have about green space accessibility and safety, and found key differences between the concerns and needs of different populations, suggesting a crucial role for inclusive decision-making, support for additional management strategies, and urban ecosystem governance that reflect the differential values, needs and concerns of communities across the City. As urban centers face looming budget cuts and reduced capacity, this study provides some empirical evidence to illustrate the value of urban green spaces as critical urban infrastructure, and may have implications for funding, policy, and management, of urban green spaces in NYC, with potential applications to other cities, particularly during times of crisis.


Author(s):  
Bianca Lopez ◽  
Christopher Kennedy ◽  
Timon McPhearson

Urban green spaces provide a range of environmental and health benefits, which may become even more critical during times of crisis such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, with a radical shift in mobility, additional concerns over safety, and access temporarily restricted during the implementation of social distancing policies, the experience and use of urban green spaces may be reduced. This is particularly concerning for densely populated cities like New York, considered the first U.S. epicenter or vanguard of the outbreak. To better understand the impact of COVID-19 on the perception and use of urban green spaces, we conducted a social survey during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic in New York City (May 13 - June 15, 2020). The results of the survey show respondents continued to use urban green spaces during the pandemic and consider them to be more important for mental and physical health than before the pandemic began. However, the study revealed a pattern of concerns residents have about green space accessibility and safety, and found key differences between the concerns and needs of different populations, suggesting a crucial role for inclusive decision-making, support for additional management strategies, and urban ecosystem governance that reflect the differential values, needs and concerns of communities across the City. As urban centers face looming budget cuts and reduced capacity, this study provides some empirical evidence to illustrate the value of urban green spaces as critical urban infrastructure, and may have implications for funding, policy, and management, of urban green spaces in NYC, with potential applications to other cities, particularly during times of crisis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warsilan Warsilan

As the capital of the province of East Kalimantan, Samarinda City developments has a rapid progress from year to year. Samarinda City Development has a tendency oriented towards infrastructure development without regard to the existence of the quality of the existing environment. Imbalance of development in Samarinda city is to start decreasing the water catchment area, so its make increasing intensity of flood in the Samarinda City. The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of changes in land use in the Samarinda city on the ability of the water catchment area. This research method using descriptive approach, the data collection system of primary and secondary. Intensity flood in the Samarinda city  is increasing from year to year, this condition happened as a problem that always occurs during the rainy season. Current development trends, always take an area that should be an infiltration  area for Samarinda City. Culture and inadequate infrastructure conditions such as lack of system of drainage and polder, was another factor causing the high intensity of flood  in Samarinda City. Therefore, the relevant regulations development guidelines for Samarinda  City must consider all aspects of planning, in this case especially the important of a balance of cultivated land and protected areas or zones.Keywords: Changes in land use; intensity of puddles; Samarinda


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-169
Author(s):  
Ni Made Sukartini ◽  
Ilmiawan Auwalin ◽  
Rumayya Rumayya

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-98
Author(s):  
Sara Ghafari ◽  
Behzad Kaviani ◽  
Shahram Sedaghathoor ◽  
Mohammad Sadegh Allahyari

Trees and shrubs of green spaces can tolerate some physiological parameters. They can adapt to climatic conditions, hence, reduce air pollution and can be used as biological indicators in various researches. The present study aimed to explore the impact of urban air pollution on some parameters such as fresh, dry and turgor weight, amounts of chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments, and electrolyte leakage of 18 ornamental tree and shrub species in marginal and downtown parks of Rasht, Iran. The results revealed significant differences in turgor weight, photosynthetic pigments, and chlorophyll a/b ratio, but insignificant differences in electrolyte leakage between the marginal and downtown sites. The results indicated that all quantitative variables of the leaves differed significantly (p ≤ 0.01) among the species, except for fresh weight.


2021 ◽  
pp. 105925
Author(s):  
Tomasz Noszczyk ◽  
Julia Gorzelany ◽  
Anita Kukulska-Kozieł ◽  
Józef Hernik

2011 ◽  
Vol 368-373 ◽  
pp. 1819-1822
Author(s):  
Dong Xiang Hu ◽  
Jun Tang

This paper discusses the possibility of amalgamation of urban green spaces and emergency shelters, according to their characters of design and construction with the recent earthquake tendency. The approach to amalgamation of them have been suggested, which is suitable for city development of China. Those are the references to research and construction of emergency shelters in urban green spaces in the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peihao Song ◽  
Gunwoo Kim ◽  
Audrey Mayer ◽  
Ruizhen He ◽  
Guohang Tian

Urban green spaces play a crucial role in maintaining urban ecosystem sustainability by providing numerous ecosystem services. How to quantify and evaluate the ecological benefits and services of urban green spaces remains a hot topic currently, while the evaluation is barely applied or implemented in urban design and planning. In this study, super-high-resolution aerial images were used to acquire the spatial distribution of urban green spaces; a modified pre-stratified random sampling method was applied to obtain the vegetation information of the four types of urban green spaces in Luohe, a common plain city in China; and i-Tree Eco model was further used to assess the vegetation structure and various ecosystem services including air quality improvement, rainfall interception, carbon storage, and sequestration provided by four types of urban green spaces. The modeling results reveal that there were about 1,006,251 trees in this area. In 2013, all the trees in these green spaces could store about 54,329 t of carbon, sequester about 4973 t of gross carbon, remove 92 t of air pollutants, and avoid 122,637 m3 of runoff. The study illustrates an innovative method to reveal different types of urban green spaces with distinct ecosystem service productivity capacity to better understand their various roles in regulating the urban environment. The results could be used to assist urban planners and policymakers to optimize urban green space structure and composition to maximize ecosystem services provision.


Author(s):  
Vanessa G. Macintyre ◽  
Sarah Cotterill ◽  
Jamie Anderson ◽  
Chris Phillipson ◽  
Jack S. Benton ◽  
...  

Green spaces are known to improve health and wellbeing via several mechanisms, such as by reducing stress and facilitating physical activity. However, little is known about the impact of the smaller green spaces typically found in urban environments on wellbeing, especially for older adults. This study investigated experiences in adults (5 males and 10 females) aged 60 years and over of small urban green spaces in a large UK city. Fifteen older adults were interviewed using semi-structured walk-along interviews and photo elicitation methods in Old Moat, Greater Manchester. Twelve of the participants lived in Old Moat at the time of the study, and the remaining three participants previously lived in Old Moat and were frequent visitors. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using Thematic Analysis. Smaller urban green spaces were perceived differently to large green spaces, and participants were more likely to use larger green spaces such as parks. The smaller green spaces were perceived as belonging to other people, which discouraged the older adults from using them. The older adults also emphasized the importance of taking care of small urban green spaces and preventing them from becoming overgrown. Urban planners should consider these factors, since they indicate that the size and type of urban green spaces may influence whether they improve health and wellbeing. Further research should investigate in more detail which types of urban green space are most conducive to facilitating physical activity and improving wellbeing.


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