Urban Green Areas and Climate Change

Urban Green Areas and
Climate Change:
LIFE URBANGREEN
a possible answer?
Francesco Ferrini - University of Florence
Paolo Viskanic - R3 GIS
LIFE URBANGREEN (LIFE17 CCA/ITA/000079)
II Climate Forum of Russian cities 6-7/09/ 2018

Green areas and urban quality
A healthy urban forest is critical for any city
that prioritises its environmental and social
outcomes”

Mental and physical health
Makes, 2012. “The Economics of
Biophilia.” Terrapin Bright Green
Ellaway et al., 2005. British Medical
Journal 331: 611-12
Lovasi et al., 2008. Journal of Epidemiol
Community Health 62: 647-49
Bell et al. 2008. American Journal of
Preventive Medicine. Vol 35 (5):547-553

Urban heat island
It is estimated
that in the United
States 3 to 8% of
electricity is
consumed to offset
the "urban heat
island" effect

Climate change
Planting urban trees
and expanding urban
forest canopy cover
are often considered
key strategies for
reducing climate
change impacts in
urban areas

Air quality
“It is the responsibility
of urban planners
and local authorities
to ensure trees are
not just planted
where they look nice,
but perhaps where
they can do more
good than bad for air
quality on city
footpaths.”

Stormwater management
Trees slow down
heavy rainfall by
intercepting the
rain with the
foliage then
reducing the direct
effect of rain on the
soil (Berlan et al.,
2017)
http://www.deeproot.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/stories/2014/06/Stormwater-Quality-Benefits-of-
Trees_Adelie-Freyja-Annabel.jpg

Energy consumption
The ability to provide
both direct (assimilation
of CO2) and indirect
(emission reduction)
benefits, is 3-5 times
more in an "urban" tree
than in a tree of the
same species and size
located in a forest
(Akbari, 2002)From Mc Pherson et al., 2007

Trees health
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2011/images/hoerlingetalfig1b.jpg
DROUGHTINFRASTRUCTURES DISEASE

Risk management
“The Italian stone
pine is a landmark of
our country”

Mitigation and adaptation
Es. emission reductions, use of
renewable energy
Mitigation
(to prevent climate
change)
Es. changing the maintenance practices, improving
efficiency of irrigation, providing healthier green areas
Adaptation
(to respond to the
impact of climate
change)
(From http://vancouver.ca/green-vancouver/climate-change-adaptation-strategy.aspx redrawn)

Vision for the city of the future
TO GREEN THE CITY
Increase tree planting and associated vegetation in
appropriate and prioritised locations
TO COOL THE CITY
Increase canopy cover, increase use of smart water
sensitive urban design and an increase in landscape
permeability
TO ENGAGE THE CITY’S COMMUNITY AND BUILD
REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP
More community activities: tree planting, arts and culture
activities, use of social media, working with partners to
improve and enhance tree planting projects
TO DEMONSTRATE BEST PRACTICE IN URBAN TREE
MANAGEMENT
Develop a complete set of technical guidelines for urban
tree management and offer training and upskilling where
needed
From http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/common/public/documents/8d30153dfee2a6c-Urban%20Forest%20Strategy.pdf modified

LIFE URBANGREEN project
LIFE URBANGREEN aims at integrating an existing urban green
management platform with innovative components to maximise
the provision of ecosystem services by urban greeneries and to
improve the efficiency of maintenance activities.
The main expected result is a smart and integrated management system
which monitors and governs all activities related to urban green areas
management, maximising ecological benefits.
The tools developed in the project will be tested in Rimini, Krakow and
without EU co-funding in Taipei and Moscow.

Project partners
Project coordinator: R3 GIS srl – Merano (Italy)
Partners Progea 4D – Krakow (PL)
University of Milano (IT)
University of Florence (IT)
Anthea srl (City of Rimini – IT)
Zarzad Zieleni Miejskiej (City of Krakow - IT)

Ecosystem services:
● Improvement of microclimate
● Storage of CO2
● Air cleaning
● Noise reduction
● Improvement of water balance
● Erosion protection
● Psychological and social effects
● Improvement of resilience
● Climate adaptation
● Mitigation of extreme weather events

Ecosystem services based on
real data
The aim of this action
is to understand environmental
benefits provided by the most
common tree species in the
participating cities and to identify
how they vary with tree age:
• Carbon storage
• Carbon assimilation
• Pollution adsorption on leaves
• Thermoregulation

RS data to improve management
Improve management
and safety of trees in
cities by monitoring their
situation using remote
sensing data.
Use LiDAR (Light Detection
And Ranging) technology for an
inventory of assets and estimation
of ecosystem services

Accurate meteo data for better
management
PLANT
WATER
REQUIRE-
MENTS

LIFE URBANGREEN pilot areas
Rimini (IT) Krakow (PL)
All new developments will be tested in Rimini, Krakow,
(Taipei and Moscow) during the second part of the project

What is URBANGREEN?

City of Taipei
Partners:
• National Central
University, Prof. Yuei-An
Liou (Remote Sensing)
• Taipei City Government,
Parks and Street Lights Office
Letter of interest included in
approved Project Proposal
No funding from EU

City of Moscow
• Research on
ecosystem services
• Monitoring through RS,
meteo data and IOT
• Smart irrigation
• Efficient coordination of
maintenance activities
• Public participation
• Test of new management tools
on pilot areas in Moscow
No funding from EU

LIFE URBANGREEN
www.lifeurbangreen.eu
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
Francesco Ferrini - University of Florence
Paolo Viskanic - R3 GIS

Urban Green Areas and Climate Change

Urban Green Areas and Climate Change

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot(20)

Similar to Urban Green Areas and Climate Change

Similar to Urban Green Areas and Climate Change(20)

More from lifeurbangreen

More from lifeurbangreen(13)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded(20)

Urban Green Areas and Climate Change