Changes in the water footprint of urban green spaces over time

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamideh Nouri ◽  
Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni ◽  
Pamela Nagler ◽  
Armando Barreto Munoz ◽  
Kamel Didan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Greenery ◽  
Green And Blue Water

<p>The concept of a sustainable green city based on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)–Goal 11 - sustainable cities and communities – may not be narrowed down to solely intensifying urban green spaces. Sustainability could include urban water management to alleviate possible conflict among “water‐saving” and “greening cities” strategies. Water consumption by urban greenery has a major role in urban water management, particularly in water-scarce regions where green covers are most affected by drought and aridity. More green and blue water resources are required to maintain and expand urban green spaces. Quantifying the water footprint of urban greenery helps to balance greening cities while water saving from both green and blue water resources. We employed remote sensing and artificial intelligence techniques to assess the water consumption and water footprint of a 780‐ha public green space, the Adelaide Parklands in Australia. We estimated the green and blue water footprint of this green space (containing 29 parks) during 2010-2018 on a monthly basis. Our results showed that the mean total water footprint of the Adelaide Parklands was about 7.75 gigaliter per annum over 2010-2018; it varied from 7.19 gigaliter/year in 2018 to 8.45 gigaliter/year in 2012. The blue water footprint was consistently higher than the green water footprint even in wet time of the year. We suggest implementing sponge city and water sensitive urban design (WSUD) techniques to help greening cities while reducing the water footprint of urban green spaces. These approaches have the potential to lessen the pressure on blue water resources and optimise the consumption of green water resources.</p>

Evapotranspiration, water demand and water footprint of urban green spaces

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamideh Nouri ◽  
Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni ◽  
Arjen Hoekstra
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Green Areas

<p>The world’s population residing in urban areas grew from 30% in 1950 to about 60% in 2020 and is expected to reach 68% by 2050. As urban areas continue to grow, green spaces in cities are getting ever more treasured. Most cities have adopted strategies to be greener to improve their resilience and livability. To make the best of the benefits offered by urban green spaces, healthy greenness is essential and this means additional water consumption. Water limitation usually results in drying out of green areas in summer, when benefits and services by green spaces are highly demanded (e.g. cooling effect). In the 21<sup>st</sup> century, vulnerability to water shortage is not restricted to dry regions anymore;  water scarcity in the time of need is threatening the livability of cities even in wet regions (i.e. extreme summers in Europe). In this study, we estimate for the first time, to our knowledge, the blue water consumption of urban green spaces. We measure the evapotranspiration of an urban green space using three approaches of in-situ, observational-based and remote sensing, and employ principles of water footprint. We assess the blue and green water footprint of urban greenery to maintain green areas of a city based on their water demand, not the abstracted water or irrigated water. In the case of Adelaide Parklands in Australia, the annual total water footprint is 1114mm, of which 17% consumes in spring, 42% in summer, 27% in autumn, and 14% in winter. The average blue water footprint of the Parklands calculates 0.66 m<sup>3</sup> per square meter per annum. The hot and dry summer causes a high total water footprint compared to the cold and wet winter. This study is transferable to other cities for quantification of blue water consumption of urban green spaces and their water footprint. These findings may help to guide urbanisation priorities to move toward greening cities with no extra pressure on scarce water resources.</p>

scholarly journals Quantifying the effects of urban green space on water partitioning and ages using an isotope-based ecohydrological model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikael Gillefalk ◽  
Dörthe Tetzlaff ◽  
Reinhard Hinkelmann ◽  
Lena-Marie Kuhlemann ◽  
Aaron Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Recharge ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Water Partitioning ◽  
Ecohydrological Model

Abstract. The acceleration of urbanisation requires sustainable, adaptive management strategies for land and water use in cities. Although the effects of buildings and sealed surfaces on urban runoff generation and local climate are well known, much less is known about the role of water partitioning in urban green spaces. In particular, little is quantitatively known about how different vegetation types of urban green spaces (lawns, parks, woodland etc.) regulate partitioning of precipitation into evaporation, transpiration and groundwater recharge; and how this partitioning is affected by sealed surfaces. Here, we integrated field observations with advanced, isotope-based ecohydrological modelling at a plot scale site in Berlin, Germany. Soil moisture, sap flow, together with stable isotopes in precipitation, soil water and groundwater recharge, were measured over the course of one growing season under three generic types of urban green space: trees, shrub and grass. Additionally, an eddy flux tower at the site continuously collected hydroclimate data. These data have been used as input and for calibration of the process-based ecohydrological model EcH2O-iso. The model tracks stable isotope ratios and water ages in various stores (e.g. soils and groundwater) and fluxes (evaporation, transpiration and recharge). Green water fluxes in evapotranspiration increased in the order shrub (381 ± 1 mm) 

scholarly journals The blue water footprint of urban green spaces: An example for Adelaide, Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 190 ◽  
pp. 103613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamideh Nouri ◽  
Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni ◽  
Arjen Y. Hoekstra
Keyword(s):  
Water Footprint ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces

scholarly journals Quantifying the effects of urban green space on water partitioning and ages using an isotope-based ecohydrological model

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 3635-3652
Author(s):  
Mikael Gillefalk ◽  
Dörthe Tetzlaff ◽  
Reinhard Hinkelmann ◽  
Lena-Marie Kuhlemann ◽  
Aaron Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Recharge ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Water Partitioning ◽  
Ecohydrological Model

Abstract. The acceleration of urbanization requires sustainable, adaptive management strategies for land and water use in cities. Although the effects of buildings and sealed surfaces on urban runoff generation and local climate are well known, much less is known about the role of water partitioning in urban green spaces. In particular, little is quantitatively known about how different vegetation types of urban green spaces (lawns, parks, woodland, etc.) regulate partitioning of precipitation into evaporation, transpiration and groundwater recharge and how this partitioning is affected by sealed surfaces. Here, we integrated field observations with advanced, isotope-based ecohydrological modelling at a plot-scale site in Berlin, Germany. Soil moisture and sap flow, together with stable isotopes in precipitation, soil water and groundwater recharge, were measured over the course of one growing season under three generic types of urban green space: trees, shrub and grass. Additionally, an eddy flux tower at the site continuously collected hydroclimate data. These data have been used as input and for calibration of the process-based ecohydrological model EcH2O-iso. The model tracks stable isotope ratios and water ages in various stores (e.g. soils and groundwater) and fluxes (evaporation, transpiration and recharge). Green water fluxes in evapotranspiration increased in the order shrub (381±1mm)<grass(434±21mm)<trees(489±30 mm), mainly driven by higher interception and transpiration. Similarly, ages of stored water and fluxes were generally older under trees than shrub or grass. The model also showed how the interface between sealed surfaces and green space creates edge effects in the form of “infiltration hotspots”. These can both enhance evapotranspiration and increase groundwater recharge. For example, in our model, transpiration from trees increased by ∼ 50 % when run-on from an adjacent sealed surface was present and led to groundwater recharge even during the growing season, which was not the case under trees without run-on. The results form an important basis for future upscaling studies by showing that vegetation management needs to be considered within sustainable water and land use planning in urban areas to build resilience in cities to climatic and other environmental change.

scholarly journals Analyzing the Level of Accessibility of Public Urban Green Spaces to Different Socially Vulnerable Groups of People

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3917 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Rahman ◽  
Dunfu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Green Space ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
High Density ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Geographical Data ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Socially Vulnerable Groups

This study estimates the factors affecting socially vulnerable groups’ demand for and accessibility levels to green public spaces in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Dhaka is a high-density city with one of the lowest levels of green space per capita in the world. Dhaka has just 8.5% of tree-covered lands, while an ideal city requires at least 20% of green space. Urban public green space provides a healthy environment to city dwellers as well as ecological soundness. This study aims to examine the effects of population density and size of a community area (Thana) on the social demand for and accessibility to green parks. To determine the socially vulnerable group demand index, this study used demographic data from the National Population and Housing Census 2011 conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. This study used geographical data extracted from Google Earth Pro to measure accessibility levels, and additionally analyzed geographical data with ArcGIS 10.0 and Google Earth Pro. We drew radius circles using Free Map Tools to measure time-distance weighted scores from community areas to urban green spaces. The results show that the large population size of socially vulnerable groups creates very high demand at the score of 0.61 for urban green public parks and small-sized, high-density community areas generate very good accessibility at 2.01% to green public spaces. These findings are highly useful to policymakers, urban planners, landscape engineers, and city governments to make a compact city sustainable, inclusive, and resilient. Moreover, the notion of a “smart city” might be a smart solution in order to manage Dhaka Megacity sustainably in this modern technological age.

scholarly journals Home range expansion in response to temperature by evening bats (Nycticeius humeralis) in an urban environment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Hall ◽  
Victoria Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Home Range ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Activity Period ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces

Abstract Background: Despite the negative connotation of urban sprawl for bat populations, fragmented green spaces such as parks, cemeteries, and golf courses have the potential to provide necessary resources for bats. For example, water resources in these areas can include natural or semi-natural lakes, ponds, streams, and drainage ditches. Such water resources, however, are frequently ephemeral when subject to prolonged periods of high temperatures. We, therefore, hypothesize that bats will expand or shift their home ranges from these urban green spaces into the surrounding neighborhoods to access alternative resources, such as residential swimming pools. Methods: To explore whether bats expand their ranges from urban green spaces, we conducted a telemetry study in which we radio-tracked resident evening bats (Nycticeius humeralis) in a local park system during their summer activity period from 2017-2019 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. From radio-tracking surveys, we measured home range size using a k-LoCoH method and the percentage of these home ranges that fell within the park system. We compared these variables using linear and non-linear regressions with temperature. Results: We successfully tracked a total of 30 bats over the 3-year period and found a positive correlation between home range size and temperature. Furthermore, we observed that home ranges increased 6 times in size when temperatures exceeded 30ºC. Conclusions: Our study indicates the importance of urban neighborhoods surrounding green spaces in providing alternative resources, such as water, for bats. If managed appropriately, these urban areas have the potential to act as urban oases for bat populations, which in turn can contribute to their conservation.

Noise perception assessment in urban green spaces using soundwalk approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (1) ◽  
pp. 5780-5791
Author(s):  
Omid Samani ◽  
Verena Zapf ◽  
M. Ercan Altinsoy
Keyword(s):  
Green Space ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Noise Emission ◽  
Visual Effect ◽  
Technical Noise ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
The City

Urban green spaces are intended to provide citizens with calm environments free of annoying city noises. This requires a thorough understanding of noise emission and related exposure to sounds in green spaces. This research investigates noise perception in various spots in an urban green space. For this purpose, the study has been conducted in the grand garden of the city of Dresden. The garden covers 1.8 square kilometers of various landscapes, including water streams, park railways, fountains, bridges, roads for bicycles and pedestrians etc. Noise perception was investigated at eleven spots with emphasis on four noise types: nature noise, human noise, traffic noise, and technical noise. In parallel, audio-visual recordings were conducted for each spot to identify the connection between the perceptual measures and the psychoacoustic parameters. These spots are categorized based on the resulting perception and psychoacoustic parameters. In addition, the visual effect of each spot on final perception is investigated. Eventually, annoyance for each spot is identified based on the corresponding participants' perception and is associated with the relevant psychoacoustic parameters.

scholarly journals Assessing the Coverage of Urban Green Space in Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City, Nepal: A GIS based Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 77-86
Author(s):  
Mahendra Singh Thapa ◽  
Gokul Poudel
Keyword(s):  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Metropolitan City ◽  
Object Oriented Approach ◽  
Materialistic Values ◽  
Urban Places

Urban green spaces are integral part of urban infrastructure. Green spaces can offer a number of benefits ranging from inner spiritual to outer materialistic values. Available green spaces in particular area especially in urban places need to be identified and located properly with scientific way and means so that we can use those places in emergency caused by natural or human induced hazards. This study has tried to measure the green space available for people dwelling in Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City of Nepal. An attempt was made to quantify green spaces in urban environments from Landsat 8 OLI imageries using object-oriented approach and field verification. The study concluded that the total green space available in Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City is 86.37 km2 i.e., around 86% of total municipal area and per capita green space is around 623 m2.

scholarly journals Social Cohesion and City Green Space: Revisiting the Power of Volunteering

Challenges ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Jennings
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Immense Potential

Urban green spaces can facilitate positive social interactions in numerous ways. These interactions may lead to the development of social cohesion among city dwellers. This article provides a viewpoint on the potential role that the presence of green space and volunteering can play in the construct of social cohesion. Specifically, the article focuses on one aspect of social cohesion, volunteerism, as a way to illustrate the immense potential of social cohesion to link health with place and the planet.

How are characteristics of urban green space related to levels of physical activity: Examining the links

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1091-1101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah Akpinar ◽  
Murat Cankurt
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
General Population ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
The City ◽  
Exercise Equipment

This study investigates the associations between characteristics of urban green spaces and frequency and duration of self-reported physical activity in the city of Aydın, Turkey. Data were collected through a survey with 420 participants. We analysed the associations between characteristics of urban green spaces and frequency and duration of general population’ physical activity and physical activity of physically active people with multivariate linear regression while controlling for sex, age, marital status, education level, occupation and household income level. Results showed that for the general population, short distance to urban green spaces, many trees, exercise equipment and picnic areas were positively associated with frequency of physical activity, while barbecue and fire places negatively associated with duration of physical activity. For physically active people, many trees, soccer and basketball fields were positively associated with their frequency of physical activity, but water features were negatively correlated with frequency of physical activity. In regard to duration of physical activity for physically active people, findings showed lawn and exercise equipment were positively correlated with duration of physical activity, while water features, barbecue and fire places were negatively correlated with duration of physical activity. The findings indicate that levels of physical activity in urban green spaces could be promoted with many trees, exercise equipment, picnic areas and lawn. However, causal relationship needs to be conducted with intervention or longitudinal studies.

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