Comprehensive Multi-Dimensional Evaluation of Fire Resistance in Urban Landscape Plants: A Framework for Resilient Greening Strategies

Abstract

As urban areas face escalating wildfire risks under climate change, selecting fire-resistant vegetation has become vital for sustainable and resilient landscape planning. Yet, most prior studies use one-dimensional approaches and overlook the complex interactions among morphological, physicochemical, and combustion traits that influence plant flammability. This study introduces a novel, multi-dimensional evaluation framework that systematically integrates these diverse fire-related traits to assess the fire resistance of 44 commonly used urban plant species in Shanghai, China. By applying the CRITIC (Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation) weighting method, we objectively quantified the relative importance of 22 fire-related indicators across trees, shrubs, herbaceous, and vines plants. The results indicate distinct key factors influencing the fire resistance of woody plants versus herbaceous and vine. Specifically, combustion duration plays a critical role in the fire resistance of woody species, while physicochemical traits such as crude fat and moisture content are strong predictors for shrubs and herbaceous forms. Based on comprehensive fire resistance evaluation scores, the studied plants were classified into four categories. Species with high fire resistance include Platanus × acerifolia, Aucuba japonica var. variegata and Parthenocissus quinquefolia. Additionally, our classification reveals marked differences in fire resistance across plant growth forms, offering a scientific basis for selecting species to establish safe and sustainable landscape configurations. The proposed framework fills a methodological gap in the literature and provides a scalable tool for integrating fire prevention into urban greening strategies, contributing to climate adaptation, ecological safety, and long-term urban resilience.