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Advances in Green Infrastructure Planning
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Advances in Green Infrastructure Planning

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 16599

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Hyun-Woo Kim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Urban Policy and Administration, Incheon National University, Incheon 22009, Korea
Interests: green infrastructure; hazard management; urban flooding; stormwater management; low-impact development; landscape metrics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The expansion of urban areas has facilitated the conversion of undeveloped lands, which has led to environmental degradation, such as loss of habitats, hydro-modification, and the collapse of existing ecosystems. Recent climate change has exacerbated these damages by causing more frequent and serious hazards. To attenuate the impacts of urbanization and the negative effects of climate change, green infrastructure (GI) planning (e.g., nature-based strategies, technologies, policies, and solutions) has arisen as an important approach for balancing urban development and nature. GI offers a variety of benefits to our cities by reducing stormwater runoff, heat waves, and air pollution; expanding wildlife habitats; and increasing recreational opportunities and even nearby property values.

While many studies have revealed various positive effects of GI, further contributions to the linkage of hubs and corridors; the adoption of up-to-date, smart, low-impact developments practices; urban environmental and hazard management planning; and indirect physical or social effects are still encouraged to promote more systematic and sustainable decision-making processes for different types of green spaces.

In this context, we invite submissions in this Special Issue across a broad spectrum of GI applications at multiple scales, ranging from planning aspects to on-site approaches. In particular, studies contributing to the empirical assessment of GI in addressing urban climate adaptation and hazard management are encouraged. Topics of interest include the following:

- Landscape patterns and configurations;

- Green space connectivity;

- Urban flooding and stormwater management;

- Urban heat mitigation;

- Air quality reduction;

- Low-impact development practices;

- Park and green space planning;

- Planning and policy assessments and reviews;

- Smart green infrastructure.

As these topics are brief examples, other novel or emerging themes relating GI planning to hazard mitigation and climate change adaptations are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Hyun-Woo Kim
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • green infrastructure
  • landscape connectivity
  • urban flooding
  • urban heat island effect
  • fine dust
  • LID
  • plan evaluation
  • smart technologies

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1103 KiB  
Article
Literature Review Reveals a Global Access Inequity to Urban Green Spaces
by Yan Sun, Somidh Saha, Heike Tost, Xiangqi Kong and Chengyang Xu
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1062; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14031062 - 18 Jan 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3684
Abstract
Differences in the accessibility to urban resources between different racial and socioeconomic groups have exerted pressure on effective planning and management for sustainable city development. However, few studies have examined the multiple factors that may influence the mitigation of urban green spaces (UGS) [...] Read more.
Differences in the accessibility to urban resources between different racial and socioeconomic groups have exerted pressure on effective planning and management for sustainable city development. However, few studies have examined the multiple factors that may influence the mitigation of urban green spaces (UGS) inequity. This study reports the results of a systematic mapping of access inequity research through correspondence analysis (CA) to reveal critical trends, knowledge gaps, and clusters based on a sample of 49 empirical studies screened from 563 selected papers. Our findings suggest that although the scale of cities with UGS access inequity varies between countries, large cities (more than 1,000,000 population), especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), are particularly affected. Moreover, the number of cities in which high socioeconomic status (high-SES) groups (e.g., young, rich, or employed) are at an advantage concerning access to UGS is substantially higher than the number of cities showing better accessibility for low-SES groups. Across the reviewed papers, analyses on mitigating interventions are sparse, and among the few studies that touch upon this, we found different central issues in local mitigating strategies between high-income countries (HICs) and LMICs. An explanatory framework is offered, explaining the interaction between UGS access inequity and local mitigating measures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Green Infrastructure Planning)
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18 pages, 1972 KiB  
Article
Predicting Detached Housing Vacancy: A Multilevel Analysis
by Jaekyung Lee, Galen Newman and Changyeon Lee
Sustainability 2022, 14(2), 922; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14020922 - 14 Jan 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1598
Abstract
Urban shrinkage is a critical issue in local small- and medium-sized cities in Korea. While there have been several studies to analyze the causes and consequences of vacancy increases, most have only focused on socioeconomic associations at larger scale and failed to consider [...] Read more.
Urban shrinkage is a critical issue in local small- and medium-sized cities in Korea. While there have been several studies to analyze the causes and consequences of vacancy increases, most have only focused on socioeconomic associations at larger scale and failed to consider individual housing level characteristics, primarily due to a lack of appropriate data. Based on data including 52,400 individual parcels, this study analyzes the primary contributors to vacant properties and their spatial distribution through a multilevel model design based on data for each parcel. Then, we identify areas at high risk of vacancy in the future to provide evidence to establish policies for improving the local environment. Results indicate that construction year, building structure, and road access conditions have a significant effect on vacant properties at the individual parcel level, and the presence of schools and hypermarket within 500 m are found to decrease vacant properties. Further, prediction outcomes show that the aged city center and areas with strict regulations on land use are expected to have a higher vacancy rate. These findings are used to provide a set of data-based revitalization strategies through the development of a vacancy prediction model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Green Infrastructure Planning)
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14 pages, 3436 KiB  
Article
Technology for Predicting Particulate Matter Emissions at Construction Sites in South Korea
by Jihwan Yang, Sungho Tae and Hyunsik Kim
Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13792; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132413792 - 14 Dec 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1778
Abstract
In recent years, particulate matter (PM) has emerged as a major social issue in various industries, particularly in East Asia. PM not only causes various environmental, social, and economic problems but also has a large impact on public health. Thus, there is an [...] Read more.
In recent years, particulate matter (PM) has emerged as a major social issue in various industries, particularly in East Asia. PM not only causes various environmental, social, and economic problems but also has a large impact on public health. Thus, there is an urgent requirement for reducing PM emissions. In South Korea, the PM generated at construction sites in urban areas directly or indirectly causes various environmental problems in surrounding areas. Construction sites are considered a major source of PM that must be managed at the national level. Therefore, this study aims to develop a technology for predicting PM emissions at construction sites. First, the major sources of PM at construction sites are determined. Then, PM emission factors are calculated for each source. Furthermore, an algorithm is developed for calculating PM emissions on the basis of an emission factor database, and a system is built for predicting PM emissions at construction sites. The reliability of the proposed technology is evaluated through a case study. The technology is expected to be used for predicting potential PM emissions at construction sites before the start of construction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Green Infrastructure Planning)
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24 pages, 25536 KiB  
Article
Machine Learning Simulation of Land Cover Impact on Surface Urban Heat Island Surrounding Park Areas
by Dakota McCarty, Jaekyung Lee and Hyun Woo Kim
Sustainability 2021, 13(22), 12678; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132212678 - 16 Nov 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2747
Abstract
The urban heat island effect has been studied extensively by many researchers around the world with the process of urbanization coming about as one of the major culprits of the increasing urban land surface temperatures. Over the past 20 years, the city of [...] Read more.
The urban heat island effect has been studied extensively by many researchers around the world with the process of urbanization coming about as one of the major culprits of the increasing urban land surface temperatures. Over the past 20 years, the city of Dallas, Texas, has consistently been one of the fastest growing cities in the United States and has faced rapid urbanization and great amounts of urban sprawl, leading to an increase in built-up surface area. In this study, we utilize Landsat 8 satellite images, Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies, land use/land cover (LULC) data, and a state-of-the-art methodology combining machine learning algorithms (eXtreme Gradient Boosted models, or XGBoost) and a modern game theoretic-based approach (Shapley Additive exPlanation, or SHAP values) to investigate how different land use/land cover classifications impact the land surface temperature and park cooling effects in the city of Dallas. We conclude that green spaces, residential, and commercial/office spaces have the largest impacts on Land Surface Temperatures (LST) as well as the Park’s Cooling Intensity (PCI). Additionally, we have found that the extent and direction of influence of these categories depends heavily on the surrounding area. By using SHAP values we can describe these interactions in greater detail than previous studies. These results will provide an important reference for future urban and park placement planning to minimize the urban heat island effect, especially in sprawling cities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Green Infrastructure Planning)
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18 pages, 7121 KiB  
Article
Effectiveness of Green Infrastructure Location Based on a Social Well-Being Index
by Sanghyeon Ko and Dongwoo Lee
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9620; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13179620 - 31 Aug 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2983
Abstract
Urban Green Infrastructure (GI) provides promising opportunities to address today’s pressing issues in cities, mainly resulting from uncurbed urbanization. GI has the potential to make significant contributions to make cities more sustainable by satisfying the growing appetite for higher standards of living as [...] Read more.
Urban Green Infrastructure (GI) provides promising opportunities to address today’s pressing issues in cities, mainly resulting from uncurbed urbanization. GI has the potential to make significant contributions to make cities more sustainable by satisfying the growing appetite for higher standards of living as well as helping cities adapt to extreme climate events. To leverage the potentials of GI, this article aims to investigate the effectiveness of GI that can enhance social welfare benefits in the triple-bottom line of urban sustainability. First, publicly available data sets representing social demographic, climate, and built environmental elements are collected and indexed to normalize its different scales by the elements, which is termed as the “Social Well-being Index.” Second, a random forest regressor was applied to identify the impacts of variables on the indexed scores by region. As a result, both the Seoul and Gyeonggi-do models found the most significant relationship with the type of GI to prevent pollutants and disasters, followed by GI types to conserve and improve the environment in Seoul and GI types to serve activity spaces in Gyeonggi-do. Furthermore, variables such as population, number of pollutants, and employment rate in Seoul were found significant and employment rate, population, and air pollution were significant in Gyeonggi-do. Finally, a scenario analysis is conducted to investigate the impacts of the overall index score with additional GI facilitation according to the model’s findings. This article can provide effective strategies for implementing policies about GI by considering regional conditions. The analytical processes in this article can provide useful insights into preparing effective ecological and environmental improvement policies accordingly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Green Infrastructure Planning)
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19 pages, 2299 KiB  
Article
The Potential of Stormwater Management in Addressing the Urban Heat Island Effect: An Economic Valuation
by Daniel Johnson, Judith Exl and Sylvie Geisendorf
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8685; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13168685 - 04 Aug 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2736
Abstract
Urban green infrastructure (UGI) within sustainable stormwater management provides numerous benefits to urban residents, including urban heat island (UHI) mitigation. Cost–benefit analyses (CBA) for UGI have been conducted at neighborhood level with a focus on stormwater management, but valuations of reductions in heat-related [...] Read more.
Urban green infrastructure (UGI) within sustainable stormwater management provides numerous benefits to urban residents, including urban heat island (UHI) mitigation. Cost–benefit analyses (CBA) for UGI have been conducted at neighborhood level with a focus on stormwater management, but valuations of reductions in heat-related hospitalizations and mortality are lacking. These benefits create significant social value; the quantification thereof is essential for urban planning in providing a scientific foundation for the inclusion of UGI in UHI mitigation strategies. This study assesses the potential of three UGI scenarios developed for an urban neighborhood in Berlin, Germany. First, climate data analyses were conducted to determine the cooling effects of tree drains, facade greening, and green roofs. Second, a CBA was performed for each scenario to value UHI mitigation by estimating the damage costs avoided in reduced heat-related hospitalizations and fatalities, using the net present value (NPV) and benefit–cost ratio (BCR) as indicators of economic feasibility. The results indicate heat mitigation capabilities of all three UGI types, with tree drains achieving the strongest cooling effects. Regarding economic feasibility, all scenarios achieve positive NPVs and BCRs above one. The findings confirm the potential of stormwater management in mitigating UHI and generating substantial social value. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Green Infrastructure Planning)
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