To help you keep abreast of the latest research and development in urban nature, we find and summarise leading journal articles. This month, topics include (1) digital urban nature, (2) equity in school greening, (3) the effects of residency on our connection to nature, (4) urban forests as nature-society-based solutions and (5) the enablers and challenges for involving local communities. Enjoy!
1. Digital urban nature: Probing a void in the smart city disclosure (geographical scope: Berlin, Germany)
Moss, T., Voigt, F., & Becker, S. (2021). Digital urban nature: Probing a void in the smart city discourse. City, 25:3-4, 255-276.
- Smart environmentalism (use of digital apps and platforms) tends to focus on components that can be technically measured, such as electricity consumption, air pollution and waste flows. Urban nature has been overlooked in strategic considerations of digitalising the city.
- Projects using digital technologies can encourage greater awareness and interactions with nature. They provide easier access to knowledge on nature and are being applied by a larger number of people. However, it is important to acknowledge that digital urban nature projects influence the way people use nature, individually and collectively.
- It is necessary that urban nature projects embrace innovation not only through the digital technologies they apply but also from the urban context they address (for example, by using existing local ecological knowledge).
2. School greening: Right or privilege? Examining urban nature within and around primary schools through an equity lens (geographical scope: Barcelona, Spain)
Baró, F., Camacho, D. A., Del Pulgar, C. P., Triguero-Mas, M., & Anguelovski, I. (2021). School greening: Right or privilege? Examining urban nature within and around primary schools through an equity lens. Landscape and Urban Planning, 208, 104019.
- Children spend less time in natural environments than previous generations, especially those living in deprived neighbourhoods, low-income households and racial and ethnic minorities.
- Schools located in the wealthiest and low-density neighbourhoods are generally greener (more than 30% total plant canopy cover), benefiting from temperature regulation and a positive health effect. Additionally, greener schools (higher amount of inner and outer greenery) generally organise more nature-based outdoor activities than those with less exposure to urban nature.
- The authors urge school greening initiatives to be prioritised on centres with the least exposure to natural environments and consider aspects related to the socioeconomic status of school children. Municipal and education authorities should foster more outdoor education activities, and the use of outdoor schools settings should be further explored to address environmental justice needs.
3. Urban versus rural? The effects of residential status on species identification skills and connection to nature (geographical scope: Israel)
Bashan, D., Colléony, A., & Shwartz, A. (2021). Urban versus rural? The effects of residential status on species identification skills and connection to nature. People and Nature, 3(2), 347-358.
- Urbanisation and urban lifestyles increasingly disconnect people from nature. This loss of human-nature interactions can undermine both cognitive (ecological knowledge) and affective (emotional connection to nature). Further impacting capabilities to experience, care for, benefit from and act to protect nature.
- The research finds that a decreased opportunity to interact with nature reduces cognitive and affective relations to nature. This reduction affects overall preferences for human-nature relationships. It exacerbates a negative cycle that modifies relational values such as caring for nature and a sense of belonging, place, and identity that influences human well-being and environmental stewardship.
- As the proportion of people living in cities is expected to continue growing, it is crucial to promote policies that enhance ecological knowledge and the connection to nature in urban areas. A stronger connection can be achieved by creating more opportunities for nature interactions and by facilitating engagement and interaction with nature.
4. COVID-19 pandemic observations as a trigger to reflect on urban forestry in European cities under climate change: Introducing nature-society-based solutions (geographical scope: Europe)
Haase, D. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic observations as a trigger to reflect on urban forestry in European cities under climate change: Introducing nature-society-based solutions. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 64, 127304.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, urban forests as nature-society-based solutions got more interest as citizens were restricted to the close surroundings of their homes. This article introduces ‘society’ to this term as a way to include the decision-making, creation and maintenance of urban forests and the way the solutions serve as a solution for complex urban challenges.
- Based on these observations, for future urban development, planners should:
1. Allow for green spaces used by humans and nature, but also those that are exclusively for ecosystems to provide space for undisturbed development and thus better control pests and diseases.
2. Allow for succession at urban open spaces to let nature experiment on solutions for a drier and hotter climate that urban society can implement in urban forestry.
3. Set targets in assessment and monitoring that match time periods which natural ecosystems need to adapt to climate change. Thus, acknowledging nature as a real ‘partner’ in nature-society-based solutions.
5. Enablers and challenges when engaging local communities for urban biodiversity conservation in Australian cities (geographical scope: Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney; Australia)
Taylor, L., Maller, C. J., Soanes, K., Ramalho, C. E., Aiyer, A., Parris, K. M., & Threlfall, C. G. (2021). Enablers and challenges when engaging local communities for urban biodiversity conservation in Australian cities. Sustainability Science, 1-14.
- Environmental managers need to engage with and gain the support of local communities to achieve positive biodiversity outcomes in cities. There is little guidance for urban environmental managers on how to (1) engage local communities and (2) implement conservation actions specific to cities and their communities. This paper identified a series of enablers and constraints that can help managers empower their local communities.
- Enablers for community-based biodiversity conservation: including supportive organisational policies and strategies, community support, engaging Indigenous advisory groups, and deploying multi-use, integrative human-nature designs.
- Challenges and constraints included a lack of top-down commitment, reliance on individuals, and overly simplistic engagement strategies.
- Above all, the interviewed environmental managers emphasised the importance of social interactions in their work and the necessity to consider both ‘humans’ and ‘nature’ in the conservation actions of urban systems.