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1. Zooming in on Arctic urban nature: green and blue space in Nadym, Siberia

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac0fa3  

   Fedorov, R; Kuklina, V; Sizov, O; Soromotin, A; Prihodko, N; Pechkin, A; Krasnenko, A; Lobanov, A; Esau, I (July 2021, Environmental Research Letters)

   Abstract Urban landscape combines built-up areas with strongly altered natural (green and blue) and other open spaces. Voluminous literature examines urban socio-environmental interactions in tropical and temperate cities, whereas high-latitude cities are rarely considered. Here, we create a historical perspective on urban green (vegetation) and blue (water) spaces in a sub-Arctic city of Nadym in Russia. Our study explores a novel way to combine quantitative information from satellite imagery and biometric studies with qualitative information from interviews with stakeholders and residents. Such a joint analysis helps to understand dynamics of the urban green and blue space as well as its value for society. Furthermore, we propose objective indicators reflecting societal values of spaces in connection with recreational and ecological services. By contrast to temperate city studies, we found that green space is less used in summer, but still highly valued, deep lakes are used and valued more than warmer shallow lakes, and winter white space do not shrink but enhance the urban public space. Satellite images reveal inevitable loss of green space to urban construction and its remediation by artificial plantings (almost by 30% at present), whereas less valued blue space decreased almost three-fold. Interviews reveal that shallow lakes have reduced recreational values due to ice bottom and algae bloom. High values are attributed to deep artificial lakes, which are more than ten times deeper than natural lakes and do not freeze throughout in winter. Our biometric studies show that trees in urban environment are significantly taller than in the corresponding undisturbed areas. Since majority of the Arctic cities are built using very similar planning ideas and technologies, our findings shall help objective appreciation of green and blue spaces in other settlements. 

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2. Assessing the availability of green infrastructure to residents of an Arctic city (on the example of Nadym) [Оценка обеспеченности зеленой инфраструктурой жителей арк­тического города (на примере Надыма)]

   https://doi.org/10.25283/2223-4594-2022-4-475-490  

   Sizov, O.S.; Fedorov, R.Y.; Pechkina, Y.A.; Michugin, M.S.; Kuklina, V.V.; Soromotin, A.V.; Fedash, A.V. (December 2022, Arctic: Ecology and Economy)

   Based on remote sensing data, the authors consider the features of the formation and use of green spaces in the city of Nadym (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area). They give a detailed assessment of the availability of green infrastructure for the inhabitants of Nadym based on a comparison of the spatial distribution of vegetation and the urban population. During the construction of the city, there was a dramatic reduction in the area of vegetation cover, which reached its maximum during active construction in the 1980s. After the completion of the main construction stage and until now, there has been a steady increase in the share of vegetation, which is explained by active landscaping activities against the backdrop of climate softening. The authors have find out that while maintaining the high availability of open green spaces within the city, the main lack of vegetation is observed within the residential development of microdistricts. The methodology for the integrated use of medium and ultra-high resolution space images, UAV surveys, detailed mapping of residential buildings and field geobotanical descriptions tested during the study can be used in a detailed analysis of the state of the green infrastructure of other cities in the north of Western Siberia. In general, the assessment of the green infrastructure availability in the Arctic cities is of great importance for urban planning, allowing to fully take into account the regional environmental needs of local residents, in the context of the heterogeneity of their distribution. 

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3. Urban plant diversity in Los Angeles, California: Species and functional type turnover in cultivated landscapes

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10067  

   Avolio, Meghan; Pataki, Diane_E; Jenerette, G_Darrel; Pincetl, Stephanie; Clarke, Lorraine_Weller; Cavender‐Bares, Jeannine; Gillespie, Thomas_W; Hobbie, Sarah_E; Larson, Kelli_L; McCarthy, Heather_R; et al (September 2019, PLANTS, PEOPLE, PLANET)

   Societal Impact Statement People plant, remove, and manage urban vegetation in cities for varying purposes and to varying extents. The direct manipulation of plants affects the benefits people receive from plants. In synthesizing several studies of urban biodiversity in Los Angeles, we find that cultivated plants differ from those in remnant natural areas. This highlights the importance of studying cultivated plants in cities, which is crucial for the design and planning of sustainable cities. Residents have created a new urban biome in Los Angeles, and this has consequences for associated organisms, ultimately resulting in a responsibility for society to determine what type of biome we wish to create. SummaryUrbanization is a large driver of biodiversity globally. Within cities, urban trees, gardens, and residential yards contribute extensively to plant biodiversity, although the consequences and mechanisms of plant cultivation for biodiversity are uncertain.We used Los Angeles, California, USA as a case study for investigating plant diversity in cultivated areas. We synthesized datasets quantifying the diversity of urban trees, residential yards, and community gardens in Los Angeles, the availability of plants from nurseries, and residents’ attitudes about plant attributes.Cultivated plant diversity was drastically different from remnant natural areas; compared to remnant natural areas, cultivated areas contained more exotic species, more than double the number of plant species, and turnover in plant functional trait distributions. In cultivated areas, most plants were intentionally planted and dominated by exotic species planted for ornamental purposes. Most tree species sampled in Los Angeles were available for sale in local nurseries. Residents’ preferences for specific plant traits were correlated with the trait composition of the plant community, suggesting cultivated plant communities at least partially reflect resident preferences.Our findings demonstrate the importance of cultivated species in a diverse megacity that are driven in part through commercial distribution. The cultivation of plants in Los Angeles greatly increases regional plant biodiversity through changes in species composition and functional trait distributions. The pervasive presence of cultivated species likely has many consequences for residents and the ecosystem services they receive compared with unmanaged or remnant urban areas. 

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4. Mapping supply of and demand for ecosystem services to assess environmental justice in New York City

   https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2390  

   Herreros‐Cantis, Pablo; McPhearson, Timon (June 2021, Ecological Applications)

   null (Ed.)

   Livability, resilience, and justice in cities are challenged by climate change and the historical legacies that together create disproportionate impacts on human communities. Urban green infrastructure has emerged as an important tool for climate change adaptation and resilience given their capacity to provide ecosystem services such as local temperature regulation, stormwater mitigation, and air purification. However, realizing the benefits of ecosystem services for climate adaptation depend on where they are locally supplied. Few studies have examined the potential spatial mismatches in supply and demand of urban ecosystem services, and even fewer have examined supply–demand mismatches as a potential environmental justice issue, such as when supply–demand mismatches disproportionately overlap with certain socio-demographic groups. We spatially analyzed demand for ecosystem services relevant for climate change adaptation and combined results with recent analysis of the supply of ecosystem services in New York City (NYC). By quantifying the relative mismatch between supply and demand of ecosystem services across the city we were able to identify spatial hot- and coldspots of supply–demand mismatch. Hotspots are spatial clusters of census blocks with a higher mismatch and coldspots are clusters with lower mismatch values than their surrounding blocks. The distribution of mismatch hot- and coldspots was then compared to the spatial distribution of socio-demographic groups. Results reveal distributional environmental injustice of access to the climate-regulating benefits of ecosystem services provided by urban green infrastructure in NYC. Analyses show that areas with lower supply–demand mismatch tend to be populated by a larger proportion of white residents with higher median incomes, and areas with high mismatch values have lower incomes and a higher proportion of people of color. We suggest that urban policy and planning should ensure that investments in “nature-based” solutions such as through urban green infrastructure for climate change adaptation do not reinforce or exacerbate potentially existing environmental injustices. 

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5. Intelligent Transportation System Solutions in Disadvantaged Communities

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-64769-7_17  

   Barth, Matthew J; Boriboonsomsin, Kanok; Wu, Guoyuan; Hao, Peng (December 2024, Springer Nature Switzerland)

   Many cities across the world are looking to use technology and innovation to improve the overall efficiency and safety for their residents. At the heart of these smart-city plans, a variety of intelligent transportation system technologies can be used to improve safety, enhance mobility measures (e.g., traffic flow), and minimize environmental impacts of a city’s mobility ecosystem. Early implementations of these ITS technologies often take place in affluent cities, where there are many funding opportunities and suitable areas for deployment. However, it is critical that we also develop smart city solutions that are focused on improving conditions of disadvantaged and environmental justice communities, whose residents have suffered the most from unmitigated urban sprawl and its environmental and health impacts. As a leading example, Inland Southern California has grown to be one of the largest hubs of goods movement in the world. Numerous logistics facilities such as warehouses, rail facilities, and truck depots have rapidly spread throughout these communities, with the local residents bearing a disproportionate burden of truck traffic, poor air quality, and adverse health effects. Further, the majority of residents have lower-wage jobs and very few mobility options, other than low-end personal car ownership. To improve this situation, UC Riverside researchers have focused their smart city research on these impacted communities, finding innovative solutions to eco-friendly traffic management, developing better-shared (electric) mobility solutions for the community, improving freight movements, and enhancing the transition to vehicle electrification. Numerous research and development projects are currently underway in Inland Southern California, spanning advanced smart city modeling and impact analysis, community outreach events, and real-world technology demonstrations. This chapter describes several of these ITS solutions and their potential for improving many cities around the world. 

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