Saeed ur Rahman , Yucheng Bian , Xinxin Liu , Chang Zhao , Peiyuan Wang , Muhammad Khalid , Asad Rehman , Junfeng Cao , Noel Bruguera Amarán , Nan Hui
{"title":"Temporal changes in soil dissimilarity are driven by synergistic effects of tree types and geographical distance in city parks","authors":"Saeed ur Rahman , Yucheng Bian , Xinxin Liu , Chang Zhao , Peiyuan Wang , Muhammad Khalid , Asad Rehman , Junfeng Cao , Noel Bruguera Amarán , Nan Hui","doi":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105496","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105496","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban parks play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem functions within cities, making the study of their soil and microbial dynamics essential. This study investigates the temporal dynamics of soil properties and microbial community diversity across urban parks in Shanghai, exploring how intra-urban land-use characteristics, particularly park age and vegetation type, shape microbial community composition, with bacterial communities expected to respond more strongly to environmental homogenization and fungal communities, especially functional guilds, being more closely tied to vegetation traits. We observed distinct differences in soil physicochemical properties and microbial communities among city parks of different ages. Fungal communities maintain conserved distinction across tree types, while bacterial communities demonstrated remarkable functional and structural convergence. It is noteworthy that the changes in alpha and beta diversity exhibit inconsistent patterns across time, while the rate of convergence in beta diversity responses to intra-urbanization varies among taxonomic groups. The synergistic interaction between tree types composition and geographical distance is a key driver shaping soil microbial diversity, and neither factor alone is sufficient to account for significant diversity changes along the age gradient. Populations with high overall richness but low single-species abundance contributed more to alpha and beta diversity, including rare species and specialist species. Overall, this study highlights the importance of tree types composition in shaping microbial community diversity, providing valuable insights to complement intra-urban tree planting strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54744,"journal":{"name":"Landscape and Urban Planning","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105496"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145049257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andrew K. Palmer , Mark Riley , Laurence Jones , Sarah Clement , Karl L. Evans , Beth F.T. Brockett
{"title":"Exploring the role of ethnicity and culture in shaping greenspace practices: A qualitative study from Bristol, UK","authors":"Andrew K. Palmer , Mark Riley , Laurence Jones , Sarah Clement , Karl L. Evans , Beth F.T. Brockett","doi":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105493","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105493","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Greenspaces provide multiple wellbeing and social benefits, yet ethnic minorities often have restricted engagement with these spaces which reinforces health inequalities. Addressing these requires a detailed understanding of the diversity of ethnic minorities’ perceptions, preferences, and practices relating to greenspaces. Through thematic analysis of interview and diary transcripts from 53 people from multiple ethnic minority groups in Bristol, UK, we identify various ways in which ethnicity and culture influence engagement with greenspaces. We find that cultural background and childhood experiences are particularly important in shaping attitudes towards greenspaces; transnational perspectives originating from cultural heritage and familial history influence how people perceive and adapt to UK greenspace conditions; and cultural considerations, perceived exclusion, and gender combine with intersectional identities to mediate experiences and engagement patterns. We draw from a novel integration of theoretical work on affordances with practices to theorise and synthesise these findings, contributing to understanding how cultural and social factors shape greenspace use. Our findings suggest that structured access initiatives, such as peer-led walking groups, and physical environment modifications, including zoning and washing facilities, can enhance the cultural inclusivity of greenspaces while addressing systemic barriers to engagement. These insights offer practical guidance for urban planners and greenspace managers seeking to create more equitable and inclusive spaces that reflect and serve increasingly diverse communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54744,"journal":{"name":"Landscape and Urban Planning","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105493"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145049053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shiyu Xiao , Jialyu He , Yao Yao , Xun Liang , Xia Li
{"title":"Optimizing urban three-dimensional landscapes in potential development areas to mitigate urban heat island effect under shared socioeconomic pathways","authors":"Shiyu Xiao , Jialyu He , Yao Yao , Xun Liang , Xia Li","doi":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105490","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105490","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The urban heat island (UHI) effect threatens human health. While optimizing the spatial structure of urban land use presents a promising strategy for UHI mitigation, few<!--> <!-->studies examined the feasibility of urban three-dimensional landscape optimization in potential development areas (PDA), resulting in unsuitable optimization results<!--> <!-->and<!--> <!-->computational inefficiency. To address these limitations, we develop a<!--> <!-->novel multi-objective optimization model for urban three-dimensional landscapes in PDA (3DLS-PO) that integrates the patch-generating simulation (PLUS) model and the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. The PLUS model first simulates the PDA in the future under different scenarios. The PSO algorithm then allocates urban land use in the PDA to mitigate the UHI effects with the explored nonlinear relationship between land surface temperature (LST) and urban two- and three-dimensional landscapes. We<!--> <!-->applied the 3DLS-PO model to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area (TMA) for 2030 under the shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) scenarios. The SSP5 scenario achieves the maximum LST reduction of 5.18%, followed by SSP1 (4.60%) and SSP2 (2.34%). To mitigate the UHI effects in the TMA,<!--> <!-->high-rise buildings should be placed at the periphery of the TMA, low-rise buildings should be allocated to the suburbs, and green spaces should be scattered. The optimization results demonstrate substantial public health benefits, potentially preventing 3.01%-14.10% of heatstroke incidents in Tokyo. Incorporating the PDA also enhances the computational efficiency of the optimization process by 14 times. The 3DLS-PO model can provide support for addressing urban climate change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54744,"journal":{"name":"Landscape and Urban Planning","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105490"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145027004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The spatiotemporal patterns and dynamics of grassland established in the US conservation reserve program (CRP)","authors":"Shuchao Ye, Chaoqun Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105488","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105488","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The significant cropland expansion in the United States (US) has resulted in many environmental issues, such as soil erosion, biodiversity loss, soil and water pollution, etc. To mitigate adverse effects associated with cropland expansion, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) implemented the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in 1986, one of the US’s largest and most well-known acreage-reduction programs, to alleviate the environmental cost. However, the lack of time-series maps illustrating the spatial distribution of CRP constrains the evaluation of environmental benefits derived from the program. In this study, through integrating CRP statistics and multiple satellite-based land cover datasets, we developed a knowledge inference-based approach by considering CRP practices, contract period, and soil erosion effect to reconstruct CRP grassland maps. The map products developed here are designed to approximate the actual distribution of CRP grasslands, enabling quantitative assessment of CRP outcomes while reserving privacy and proprietary interests of individual farmers. The developed datasets cover the conterminous US from 1986 to 2020 with a resolution of 1 km by 1 km. Using CRP ground points across the US from the Rapid Carbon Assessment (RaCA) program in 2011, we validated the developed CRP map, achieving an overall accuracy of 90 % within a tolerance of 5 km. The results indicate CRP grasslands expanded from 0.60 Mha in 1986 to 10.19 Mha by 1995, then remained stable at around 10.00 Mha for the next decade. However, the area declined steadily to 5.78 Mha by 2020, driven by rising crop prices and the reduced CRP enrollment cap. Spatially, the areas with high CRP percentages were observed in the Midwest and Northwest, the west of the Southern Great Plains, and the north of the Northern Great Plains. In addition, the developed maps include two kinds of CRP grass practices, “the grasslands converted from the former cropland (CPCP)” and “the existing grasslands that were previously replanted from cropland (CPEG)”. We further found that 9–11 % and 12–24 % of CPCP and CPEG have enrolled in CRP twice during 1985–2020, respectively, which may lead to different potentials of CRP-associated carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas reduction compared with one-time or continuous CRP lands. Overall, the developed time-series maps can serve as a good reference to identify the spatiotemporal changes of CRP grasslands and to inform the modeling studies for assessing the CRP-associated environmental benefits and supporting future policymaking.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54744,"journal":{"name":"Landscape and Urban Planning","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105488"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145003906","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kristina Fauss , Joe V. Celebrezze , Robert Lloyd Fitch , Indra Boving , Rachel Dye , Max A. Moritz
{"title":"Landscaping defensible space: Plant flammability testing informs recommendations to reduce community fire hazard","authors":"Kristina Fauss , Joe V. Celebrezze , Robert Lloyd Fitch , Indra Boving , Rachel Dye , Max A. Moritz","doi":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105483","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105483","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The wildland urban interface (WUI) presents a unique planning challenge. Landscaped residential properties intersect with wild, fire-prone vegetation; however, WUI residents lack clear guidance on which plants pose higher or lower risk and how to manage vegetation to reduce fire hazard while also prioritizing landscaping design. This is largely due to the lack of information regarding how landscaping plants burn. This study provided a community-led approach to plant flammability testing, suggested an index to rank landscaping plant flammability, and offered landscaping guidance for residents of Southern California WUI communities. Community feedback revealed which ecosystem services (i.e., cultural: privacy) and plant species attributes (i.e., drought tolerance) were valued most by the community and helped identify common native species for flammability testing. Through laboratory flammability tests, interspecific differences in flammability were found as well as significant relationships between plant traits – hydration, branch, and leaf morphology – and flammability. Branching, mass, and drought stress were positively correlated with combustion intensity, whereas live fuel moisture (LFM) and stem surface area to volume ratio had a negative effect. These findings confirm the importance of minimizing plant mass near structures; carefully considering plant growth forms in planning; and maintaining healthy, hydrated plants in defensible space. With these considerations in mind, we discussed which defensible space zones could be best-suited for the tested plant species. Involving resident input and community horticulturalists in research direction allowed for targeted testing of species most relevant to the community of study and provided action-oriented collaborations with local stakeholders to improve fire-informed landscaping.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54744,"journal":{"name":"Landscape and Urban Planning","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105483"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144919927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Research note: Surrounding landscape and local tree structure explain wear in boreal urban forests","authors":"Aku Korhonen, Leena Hamberg","doi":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105485","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105485","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Natural urban green areas in cities are susceptible to degradation due to high levels of recreational use and trampling induced wear. The aim of this study was to relate the amount of wear (paths and worn ground) in boreal urban forests to landscape-scale and local-scale predictors to help assess risks associated with urban densification. Wear was measured in 73 forests in three urban centers in southern Finland and analyzed in relation to surrounding residential density, amount of nearby forest area, and local forest characteristics. Median observed worn cover was 12 % while the most affected sites were over 90 % worn. Higher residential density and smaller forest area had independent exacerbating effects on wear. Wear was also related to tree structure and tended to be larger in forest interiors than near the edge. Our findings showcase how landscape transformations in growing cities may translate into risks of ecological degradation in urban forests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54744,"journal":{"name":"Landscape and Urban Planning","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105485"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144920188","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evaluating the role of urban trees on building energy use: a global literature review","authors":"Chen Yang , Mengju Xie , Thushini Mendis","doi":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105475","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105475","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the global energy crisis and climate change exacerbate urban heat island effects, trees offer significant potential to reduce energy demand by shading solar radiation and improving microclimates. However, there is a lack of comprehensive global reviews on the effects of urban trees on building energy use. This study aims to address the existing research gap by systematically reviewing peer-reviewed literature to investigate the impact of urban trees on building energy use across global climate zones, analyzing the mechanisms and pathway combinations through which trees influence energy use, and exploring optimal tree placement strategies for building energy performance optimization. Results show that trees can reduce cooling energy use by up to 60 %, with savings ranging from 31.75 % in equatorial climates to 4.78 % in snow climates. The impact on heating energy use varies widely, from −63.8 % to 45 %, depending on climate, tree species, and placement. Simulation studies analyze more complex pathway combinations (9 types) compared to empirical research (4 types), revealing methodological gaps in empirical studies of these mechanisms. Spatial analysis shows latitude-dependent optimization patterns, where for cooling, 38.5 % of studies recommend west-side planting while 23 % suggest south-side planting (though less effective at low latitudes). The optimal planting distances cluster at 3 m and 5 m for both cooling and heating effects, with high-latitude cooling extending to 9–12 m spacing. Future research should integrate interdisciplinary approaches, AI modeling, and high-resolution monitoring data to optimize tree-building energy interactions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54744,"journal":{"name":"Landscape and Urban Planning","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105475"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144908211","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Thami Croeser , Wolfgang W. Weisser , Joe Hurley , Thomas Rötzer , Leila Parhizgar , Qian (Chayn) Sun , Sarah A. Bekessy
{"title":"Defining ‘adequate’ tree protection: Meeting urban canopy targets requires careful retention of mature trees","authors":"Thami Croeser , Wolfgang W. Weisser , Joe Hurley , Thomas Rötzer , Leila Parhizgar , Qian (Chayn) Sun , Sarah A. Bekessy","doi":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105484","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105484","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Canopy cover is increasingly recognised as an important aspect of the urban landscape, and as a result urban forestry plans have been adopted in many cities globally. These are often built around ambitious canopy cover targets, with a goal to keep cities cool and improve their amenity while delivering co-benefits like health improvements, flood reduction and enhanced biodiversity. Canopy targets and tree planting have tended to receive more attention than another critical determinant of canopy expansion: keeping the trees alive once they are planted. In this study, we use a model to examine how varying tree removal rates influences the long-term canopy cover provided by street trees, considering both typical policy timeframes and projections through the end of the century. The model uses allometrics from real urban trees in four cities to project canopy growth under a wide range of removal rates, for a wide range of potential urban forest characteristics. We find that retention of mature and maturing street trees is consistently critical, with removal rates exceeding 3% per annum generally associated with much lower canopy progress (and usually very poor results). The model’s outputs demonstrate how cities can build a clear case for better-integrated urban governance to ensure these challenging threshold values are avoided.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54744,"journal":{"name":"Landscape and Urban Planning","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105484"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144904661","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unpacking Outcomes: A quasi-experimental study on the effectiveness of China’s major function-oriented zone planning","authors":"Kaiyang Jia , Sujuan Zhong , Xianjin Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105482","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105482","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The competing demands for land resources among urbanization, food production, and ecological preservation present a critical challenge for sustainable development in developing nations. China’s Major Function-Oriented Zone Planning (MFZP), launched in 2010, represents a pioneering national-scale zoning planning to address these competing interests. This study provides the first comprehensive empirical assessment of MFZP’s effectiveness through a quasi-experimental analysis using county-level panel data from 2000 to 2020. Employing a Propensity Score Matching with Difference-in-Difference approach, we compare land development patterns between restricted and key development zones with similar baseline characteristics. Results demonstrate that MFZP successfully achieved its primary objective: restricted development zones exhibited significantly lower development intensity compared to matched key development zones, without showing significant negative impacts on per capita GDP growth. The effectiveness of the plan implementation varies notably across China’s economic regions and among restricted zones with different functional priorities. These findings validate the feasibility of large-scale spatial planning in balancing development needs and offer evidence-based insights for developing countries seeking to implement similar land-use management strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54744,"journal":{"name":"Landscape and Urban Planning","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105482"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144896080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ibukun Balogun , James S. Pryke , Temitope Kehinde , Michael J. Samways
{"title":"Improving an African urban mosaic for insect pollinators through increased floral diversity and better functional connectivity","authors":"Ibukun Balogun , James S. Pryke , Temitope Kehinde , Michael J. Samways","doi":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105480","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105480","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Small African urban areas are composed of an urban core, farms, and natural areas. This mosaic has high potential for providing refuge for urban biodiversity, especially for beneficial groups like insect pollinators. Insect pollinators are important for agricultural yield, yet are in decline in many parts of the world. However, to date, African urban areas as a refuge for these pollinators are poorly explored, despite increasing urbanization and agricultural intensification in recent decades. Here, we investigate how insect pollinator diversity differs between gardens, agricultural areas, and natural areas in a southern African urban mosaic. We also explore the influence of urban green spaces on the taxonomic diversity of insect pollinators. Direct observation and pan traps were used for assessing the diversity of pollinators, and we measured associated environmental, floral, and landscape variables. Results indicated similar pollinator diversity between agricultural and natural areas for some taxa, and between agricultural areas and the urban gardens for other taxa. Significantly, floral variables were the most important predictors of the pollinators, with the enhancement of floral diversity ameliorating the effects of urbanization and agricultural intensification. In contrast, landscape context was less important, although significant, for insect pollinators in these mosaics. Results, although varying significantly among taxa, suggest that agroecological farming may serve as a buffer from the effects of urbanization for natural areas and reduce the effect of urbanization on pollinators in urban gardens by providing the necessary resources. Here, we show that floral variables are important for improving urban green planning. This could be achieved by the establishment of more flowering plants, especially in human-modified areas such as semi-urban agricultural areas and urban gardens.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54744,"journal":{"name":"Landscape and Urban Planning","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105480"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144864316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}