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Green Infrastructures and Climate Change
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Green Infrastructures and Climate Change

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Air, Climate Change and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 11015

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Luisa Sturiale

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
DICAR, University of Catania, via S. Sofia, 6, 95127 Catania, Italy
Interests: environment; economics; planning and evaluation
Prof. Alessandro Scuderi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Di3A, University of Catania, via S. Sofia, 100, 95123 Catania, Italy
Interests: agriculture; food and environment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to submit your latest research in this Special Issue of Sustainability, “Green Infrastructures and Climate Change”.

The actions against climate change and its effects on society and the environment are oriented in two directions: mitigation, to progressively reduce the emissions of climate-changing gases responsible for global warming, and adaptation, to reduce the vulnerability of environmental, social, and economic systems and to increase their capacity for climate resilience.

Green Infrastructures (GIs) have been identified as ‘best practices’ in local governance when combined with traditional “grey” infrastructure to achieve greater urban sustainability and resilience. Moreover, GIs are being recognized for their value for adapting to the emerging and irreversible impacts of climate change. As such, some local governments have adopted GIs as a climate change adaptation measure, particularly as the strategies result in multiple other benefits.

GIs and their integration in urban planning appear as one of the most appropriate and effective ways to improve microclimate and face the impacts of climate change and mainly the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. GI forms include green, blue, and white roofs and green alleys and streets, green walls, urban forestry, rain gardens, urban agriculture (urban gardens; community gardening; collective green; peri-urban agriculture; agricultural parks), river parks, local products markets, areas of constructed wetlands, alternative energy farms, and nature conservation areas, among the most common, and adapted buildings to better cope with floods and coastal storms.

Cities will have the important role of adopting the laws and provisions that are necessary at the various levels, but also to ensure the best quality of life in urban areas. Climate impact requires the use of innovative solutions and the rethinking of urban management and planning.

Prof. Alessandro Scuderi
Prof. Luisa Sturiale
Guest Editors

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

  • urban climate change adaptation
  • green infrastructures
  • urban green system
  • ecosystem services
  • resilient city
  • urban resilient development
  • urban gardens
  • community gardens
  • green urban landscape
  • urban and peri-urban agriculture
  • evaluation of ecosystem services
  • economic and climate value of trees
  • economic costs and benefits of green infrastructures
  • green urban planning
  • governance approaches to climate resilience
  • green infrastructure design standards
  • local landscape and environmental statues
  • evaluation of adaptative behavior of the citizens
  • market mechanisms to support green infrastructures

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 1928 KiB  
Article
A Model to Support Sustainable Resource Management in the “Etna River Valleys” Biosphere Reserve: The Dominance-Based Rough Set Approach
by Alessandro Scuderi, Luisa Sturiale, Giuseppe Timpanaro, Agata Matarazzo, Silvia Zingale and Paolo Guarnaccia
Sustainability 2022, 14(9), 4953; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14094953 - 20 Apr 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1513
Abstract
For several decades, studies and conventions have highlighted the importance of the ecosystem services provided by natural resources and biodiversity for humanity and the need to move their management towards a sustainable model. Inthe United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2015), among [...] Read more.
For several decades, studies and conventions have highlighted the importance of the ecosystem services provided by natural resources and biodiversity for humanity and the need to move their management towards a sustainable model. Inthe United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2015), among its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there isalsoSDG 15, “Life on Land”, specifically dedicated to biodiversity, forests and desertification. The aim is to “sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt the loss of bio-diversity”. The UNESCO “MAB—Man and Biosphere” Programme could achieve this goal by establishing Biosphere Reserves (BRs). Among them, the establishment of the BR “Etna river valleys” is an opportunity to adopt sustainable development models in the “Etna Park system” (UNESCO site since 2013) for the regeneration of virtuous relationships between cities and rural areas and the promotion of the conservation of natural resources and biodiversity through strategies of territorial enhancement with a multifunctional vision of agriculture and territory. This research aims to provide, through the methodology of “Rough Sets”, a useful tool to support the strategic choices that stakeholders will be called upon to make for the management of the complex environmental, cultural and economic mosaic that characterises the BR “Etna river valleys”.The results show both weaknesses and strengths in the transition towards a sustainable land management model, which will nonethelesshave to be supported and accompanied by information and financial support. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Infrastructures and Climate Change)
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16 pages, 2570 KiB  
Article
Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture as a Tool for Food Security and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: The Case of Mestre
by Giulia Lucertini and Gianmarco Di Giustino
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 5999; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13115999 - 26 May 2021
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5642
Abstract
Urban and peri-urban areas are subject to major societal challenges, like food security, climate change, biodiversity, resource efficiency, land management, social cohesion, and economic growth. In that context, Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA), thanks to its multifunctionality, could have a high value in [...] Read more.
Urban and peri-urban areas are subject to major societal challenges, like food security, climate change, biodiversity, resource efficiency, land management, social cohesion, and economic growth. In that context, Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA), thanks to its multifunctionality, could have a high value in providing social, economic, and environmental co-benefits. UPA is an emerging field of research and production that aims to improve food security and climate change impact reduction, improving urban resilience and sustainability. In this paper, a replicable GIS-based approach was used to localize and quantify available areas for agriculture, including both flat rooftop and ground-level areas in the mainland of the city of Venice (Italy). Then, possible horticultural yield production was estimated considering common UPA yield value and average Italian consumption. Climate change mitigation, like CO2 reduction and sequestration, and climate change adaptation, like Urban Flooding and Urban Heat Island reduction, due to the new UPA areas’ development were estimated. Despite the urban density, the identified areas have the potential to produce enough vegetables for the residents and improve climate change mitigation and adaptation, if transformed into agricultural areas. Finally, the paper concludes with a reflection on the co-benefits of UPA multifunctionality, and with some policy suggestions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Infrastructures and Climate Change)
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16 pages, 2014 KiB  
Article
Carbon Footprint of Landscape Tree Production in Korea
by Hye-Mi Park, Hyun-Kil Jo and Jin-Young Kim
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 5915; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13115915 - 24 May 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2609
Abstract
Landscape trees sequester carbon during their growth processes, but they emit carbon through production in nurseries, which may offset carbon uptake. This study quantified the carbon footprint of landscape tree production. After determining the scope of life cycle for landscape tree production, the [...] Read more.
Landscape trees sequester carbon during their growth processes, but they emit carbon through production in nurseries, which may offset carbon uptake. This study quantified the carbon footprint of landscape tree production. After determining the scope of life cycle for landscape tree production, the energy and material used to produce trees of a target size were analyzed by conducting a field survey of 35 nurseries. This energy consumption and input material were converted to an estimate of carbon emitted using data on carbon emission coefficients. The net carbon uptake was 4.6, 12.2, and 24.3 kg/tree for trees with a DBH of 7, 10, and 13 cm, respectively. Thus, even though carbon is emitted during the production process, landscape trees can act as a source of carbon uptake in cities that have high energy consumption levels. This study broke new ground for quantifying the carbon footprint of landscape tree production by overcoming limitations of the past studies that only considered carbon uptake due to absence of data on energy consumption and difficulty of field survey. These study results are expected to provide information on the carbon footprint of landscape trees and to be useful in determining optimal greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal through urban greenspaces. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Infrastructures and Climate Change)
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