Urban Services to Ecosystems: Green Infrastructure Benefits from the Landscape to the Urban Scale (Future City, 17)

The aim of this book is to bring together multidisciplinary research in the field of green infrastructure design, construction and ecology. The main core of the volume is constituted by contributions dealing with green infrastructure, vegetation science, nature-based solutions and sustainable urban development. The green infrastructure and its ecosystem services, indeed, are gaining space in both political agendas and academic research. However, the attention is focused on the services that nature is giving for free to and for human health and survival. What if we start to see things from another perspective? Our actions shall converge for instance to turn man-made environment like cities from heterotrophic to autotrophic ecosystems. From landscape ecology to urban and building design, like bricks of a wall, from the small scale to the bigger landscape scale via ecological networks and corridors, we should start answering these questions: what are the services that are we offering to Nature? What are we improving? How to implement our actions? This book contains three Open Access chapters, which are licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Preface Acknowledgements Contents Contributors About the Editors Chapter 1: Urban Services to Ecosystems: An Introduction 1.1 Green Infrastructure, Urban Ecology and Vegetation Science 1.2 Planning and Implementation of Green Infrastructure 1.3 Nature-Based Solutions and Innovative Design Approaches 1.4 Concluding Remarks References Part I: Green Infrastructure, Urban Ecology and Vegetation Science Chapter 2: Improving Extensive Green Roofs for Endangered Ground-Nesting Birds 2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 Extensive Green Roofs: An Unexpected Space for Wildlife 2.1.2 The Role of Vegetation Patterns on Green Roofs 2.1.3 The Northern Lapwing: An Emblematic Endangered Ground-Nesting Bird 2.1.4 Aims of the Research 2.2 Material and Methods 2.2.1 Roof Shaping and Environmental Improvements 2.2.2 Vegetation Surveys 2.2.3 Arthropod Monitoring 2.2.4 Bird Monitoring 2.3 Results and Discussion 2.3.1 Effects of Roof Enhancements and Plant Species Transfer on Vegetation and Invertebrates 2.3.2 Trends of the Northern Lapwing Reproductive Performance on Green Roofs 2.4 Conclusions References Chapter 3: A Plant Sociological Procedure for the Ecological Design and Enhancement of Urban Green Infrastructure 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Materials and Methods 3.2.1 Study Case 3.2.2 Vegetation Survey, Preliminary Ecological Assessment and Shadow Analysis 3.2.3 Automatic Plant Species Selection 3.2.4 Further Screening and Expert-Based Assessment 3.2.5 Habitat Connectivity and Microclimatic Design (Where to Sow/Plant What?) 3.3 Results 3.3.1 Vegetation Survey and Ecological Assessment of the Green Roof 3.3.2 Expert-Based Plant Species Selection and Assemblage 3.3.3 Habitat Connectivity 3.3.4 Microclimatic Planting (Where to Sow/Plant What?) 3.4 Discussion 3.4.1 Ecological Assessment of the Green Roof 3.4.2 Plant Species Functional Traits: A Comparison Between the Master and the Derived List 3.4.3 Plant Species Assemblages 3.4.4 Habitat Connectivity and Spatial Planning 3.4.5 Limits of the Method and A Posteriori Remark 3.5 Conclusions References Chapter 4: Functional and Phylogenetic Characteristics of Vegetation: Effects on Constructed Green Infrastructure 4.1 General Introduction 4.2 Application of Functional Traits and Phylogenetics to Green Infrastructure 4.3 Green Roofs 4.4 Green Walls 4.5 Rain Gardens 4.6 Treatment Wetlands 4.7 Conclusions References Chapter 5: Green Infrastructure Within Urban and Rural Landscapes Following Landscape Bionomics 5.1 The Responsibility of Territorial Planning and Ecology 5.1.1 Territorial Planning and the Paradigm Shift 5.1.2 Traditional Ecology and the New Scientific Paradigm 5.2 Bionomics and Landscape Bionomics 5.2.1 The Landscape as the Territorial Level of Biological Organisation 5.2.2 Main Structures in Landscape Bionomics 5.2.3 Main State Functions in Landscape Bionomics 5.2.4 Bionomic Diagnostic Evaluation 5.2.4.1 HH/BTC Diagnostic Function 5.3 Landscape Bionomics and Territorial Planning 5.3.1 A Systemic Planning Methodology 5.3.2 Green Infrastructures 5.4 Examples of Bionomic Application on Green Infrastructures 5.4.1 Urban Parks and Ecological Networks 5.4.2 Green Infrastructure Role in Altered Agricultural Landscapes 5.5 Conclusions References Chapter 6: Roof Greening with Native Plant Species of Dry Sandy Grasslands in Northwestern Germany 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Extensive Green-Roof Layering and Substrates for Native Grassland Species 6.3 Selection of Native Plant Species and Techniques for Their Introduction 6.4 Examples: Dry Sandy Grasslands as a Habitat Template in Northwestern Germany: From Experimental Mini-Roofs to Large-Scale Roof Greening 6.5 Conclusions and Perspectives References Chapter 7: Nature-Based Solutions as Tools for Monitoring the Abiotic and Biotic Factors in Urban Ecosystems 7.1 Introduction 7.1.1 Urban Horticulture 7.2 NBS as Environmental Monitoring Tools 7.2.1 Monitoring and Indicators of Local Climate and Air Quality Regulation Provided by NBS 7.2.2 Indicators of the NBS Impact on Soil Fertility and Stability 7.2.3 Monitoring and Indicators of the Impact of NBS on Water Quality and Management 7.2.4 NBS as Living Monitoring Stations for Environmental Quality Parameters 7.3 NBS as Arthropod Diversity Monitoring Tool 7.4 Concluding Remarks References Chapter 8: Anthosart Green Tool: Selecting Species for Green Infrastructure Design 8.1 Introduction 8.2 The Anthosart Green Tool 8.3 Feedback from Green Designers and Citizens 8.4 How Anthosart Can Contribute to the Enhancement of Sustainable Green Infrastructure 8.5 Conclusions References Chapter 9: Stewardship Innovation: The Forgotten Component in Maximising the Value of Urban Nature-Based Solutions 9.1 Introduction 9.1.1 Valuing Nature: Ecosystem Services 9.1.2 Ecosystem Services Approach: Benefits and Trade-Offs 9.1.3 Nature-Based Solutions: An Emerging Model for Ecosystem Service Delivery 9.1.4 Why Are Nature-Based Solutions Important? 9.1.5 Three Phases of Nature-Based Solution Implementation: Planning, Delivery, and Stewardship 9.1.6 Stewardship: The Forgotten Component 9.1.7 The Importance of Stewardship Planning 9.2 Case Studies 9.2.1 Nature-Based Solution Stewardship: Technical, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 9.2.2 Nature-Based Solution Stewardship: Governance, the Barking Riverside Community Interest Company 9.2.3 Nature-Based Solution Stewardship: Finance, Glasgow SuDS Adoption 9.3 Concluding Summary References Chapter 10: Nature as Model: Evaluating the Mature Vegetation of Early Extensive Green Roofs 10.1 Introduction 10.1.1 Background and History 10.1.2 Nature as Model 10.1.2.1 Spontaneous Green Roof Vegetation 10.1.2.2 Natural Ecosystems 10.1.3 Plant Communities Described with Ecological Indicators 10.1.4 Research Aims 10.2 Methods 10.2.1 Description of the Roofs Sampled 10.2.2 Vegetation and Substrate Sampling 10.2.2.1 Vegetation Sampling 10.2.2.2 Substrate Sampling 10.2.3 Data Analysis 10.2.3.1 Ellenberg Indicator Values 10.2.3.2 Cluster Analysis 10.3 Results and Discussion 10.3.1 Characterising the Growing Conditions of Extensive Green Roofs in a Temperate Continental Climate 10.3.1.1 Light 10.3.1.2 Temperature 10.3.1.3 Continentality 10.3.1.4 Soil Moisture 10.3.1.5 pH 10.3.1.6 Nitrogen 10.3.2 Grouping Mature Green Roof Plant Communities into Vegetation Types 10.3.2.1 Pitched Sedum Meadow 10.3.2.2 Species-Poor Sedum Roofs 10.3.2.3 Sedum Meadows 10.3.2.4 Floristically Diverse Sedum Meadow 10.3.2.5 Sedum Meadow with Chives 10.3.2.6 Sparse Sedum Meadow 10.3.2.7 Phytosociology of Spontaneous Green Roof Vegetation 10.4 Conclusions References Chapter 11: Less Is More: Soil and Substrate Quality as an Opportunity for Urban Greening and Biodiversity Conservation 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Functions of Urban Soil 11.3 The Alteration of Urban Soil Properties and the Consequences for Ecology and the Functional Application of Soils 11.3.1 Alteration of Physical Properties: Texture, Porosity, Structure, Temperature 11.3.2 Alteration of Chemical Properties: pH and Nutrient Cycles 11.3.3 Pollution 11.4 Soil Rehabilitation and Reconstruction 11.5 Case Studies 11.5.1 Establishment of Biodiverse Herbaceous Vegetation on Low-Nutrient Substrates 11.5.2 Developing Soil Microbiota for Green Roofs References Part II: Planning and Implementation of Green Infrastructure Chapter 12: How Urban Agriculture Can Contribute to Green Infrastructure in Japanese Cities 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Overview of Urban Agriculture in Japan 12.2.1 Historical Background 12.2.2 Farmland as Residential Land During Periods of High Economic Growth 12.2.3 Changing Evaluations of Urban Farmland 12.3 Research Framework 12.3.1 Research Approach 12.3.2 Case Study 12.4 Results 12.4.1 Comparing the Functions of Urban Farmland and City Parks 12.4.2 Pesticide Usage Rules, Conflicts with Residential Areas 12.4.3 Analysis of Municipalities’ Urban Farmland Policies 12.5 Discussion 12.6 Concluding Remarks References Chapter 13: Anticipating an Urban Green Infrastructure Design for the Turkish Mediterranean City of Antalya 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Materials and Methods 13.3 Green Infrastructure Typologies of Antalya City 13.3.1 Coastal Features: Coastline, Beaches and Sea Cliffs 13.3.1.1 Antalya Falezes 13.3.2 Natural and Semi-natural Areas 13.3.2.1 Lara Sand Dunes and Dune Forests 13.3.2.2 Yamansaz Marsh 13.3.2.3 Remnant Forest Patches and Maquis 13.3.3 Parks and Gardens 13.3.4 Water Corridors, Valleys 13.3.4.1 Düden River, Düden Waterfall and Seven Streams 13.3.4.2 Boğaçay River 13.3.4.3 Sarısu Stream 13.3.4.4 Valleys and Canyons 13.3.5 Agricultural Lands 13.3.6 Settlements 13.3.7 Industrial and Commercial Areas 13.3.8 Roads 13.4 Results and Discussion 13.4.1 Connectivity Hubs in the Green Infrastructure of Antalya City References Chapter 14: Multifunctional Ecological Networks as Framework for Landscape and Spatial Planning in Italy 14.1 Introduction 14.2 The Multifunctional Ecological Network 14.3 The Multifunctional Ecological Network at the Regional Level in the Landscape Plans 14.4 The Multifunctional Ecological Network at the Provincial Level: The Metropolitan Cities 14.5 Conclusions References Chapter 15: The Foodscape as Ecological System. Landscape Resources for R-Urban Metabolism, Social Empowerment and Cultural Production 15.1 The Cultural Value of Food Ecology for Urban/Rural Regeneration 15.2 Mapping and Analysing the Food Dynamics for a More Sustainable Territorial Development 15.3 Urban and Rural Landscapes: Virtuous Linkages in the Alpine Ecosystems 15.3.1 The Municipality of Trento, the Municipality of Pergine Valsugana and the Comunità Rotaliana-Königsberg 15.4 Integrated Networked Ecologies: Beyond the Administrative Borders References Chapter 16: Policies and Planning of Urban Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems 16.1 Urban Green Infrastructure and Relevance for Urban Planning 16.2 The Crucial Role of Urban Green Infrastructure for Water and Climate Regulation 16.2.1 Water Regulation 16.2.2 Climate Regulation 16.3 Sustainable Urban Drainage System 16.4 Planning and Policies for SUDS 16.4.1 Methodological Approaches to Inform Planning Decisions on SUDS 16.4.1.1 Geographical and Urban Analyses 16.4.1.2 Hydrological and Hydraulic Analyses 16.4.1.3 Choice of SUDS Scenarios 16.4.1.4 Modelling of Scenarios 16.4.1.5 Validation of the Results 16.4.2 Policies for SUDS Implementation 16.4.3 Challenges and Opportunities for the Integration of GI in Urban Planning 16.5 Conclusions References Chapter 17: Soil and Water Bioengineering as Natural-Based Solutions 17.1 Soil and Water Bioengineering in the Context of Global Change 17.2 Soil and Water Bioengineering (SWB) as a Discipline 17.3 Main Domains of Application and Fields of Intervention 17.4 Recent Progress in Soil and Water Bioengineering. Some Examples in Urban and Suburban Contexts 17.4.1 River Birse, Soyhières, Switzerland 17.4.2 River Fella, Malborghetto, Udine, Italy 17.4.3 Artía Channel, Irun, Spain 17.4.4 Slope Stabilization, Mazères, France 17.4.5 Stabilization N1, Etxegarate, Guipúzcoa, Spain 17.5 Conclusions References Chapter 18: Guided by Water: Green Infrastructure Planning and Design Adapted to Climate Change 18.1 Introduction 18.2 Building Green Infrastructure and Design with Water 18.3 Planning and Designing Green Infrastructure Strategies: Key Methodological Approaches 18.4 Landscape Planning and Design with Green Infrastructure: The City-Region National Park of London 18.5 The Arcadian Thames: Landscape and Water 18.6 The Landscape of the Royal Botanic Gardens 18.7 Conclusion: Implications for the Landscape Planning and Design References Chapter 19: Abandoned Lands on Lower Danube’s Urban Front as Opportunity to Enhance the River Corridor and the Urban Green Infrastructure 19.1 Introduction 19.2 Context and Premises 19.3 Methodology and Tools 19.4 Defining and Characterizing the Lower Danube Small and Medium-Sized Cities 19.4.1 European Territorial Framework of SMSCs 19.4.2 Identification and Analysis of the Lower Danube’s Small and Medium-Sized Cities 19.5 Defining and Revealing the Green Potential of the Abandoned Urban Land (AUL) Within the Danube-Specific Green Context 19.5.1 The Danube Green Infrastructure Context and Visions 19.5.2 Identifying the AUL Spatial Typology and GI Integration 19.6 Planning in Small and Medium-Sized Cities for Building an Urban Green Infrastructure 19.7 Conclusions References Chapter 20: The Collserola Special Protection Plan (PEPNat): A Bid for Co-responsibility in Agricultural and Forest Management 20.1 The Agroforestry Mosaic Within the Metropolitan Green Infrastructure Programme 20.2 Serra de Collserola Natural Park 20.2.1 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services 20.2.2 Promoting the Agroforestry Mosaic 20.2.3 The State of Traditional Buildings 20.2.4 The Governance Model and the Need for a Co-responsibility Formula 20.3 The New Collserola Range Protection Plan (PEPNat) 20.3.1 The Natural Resources Valorization Model 20.3.2 The Model in Relation to Cultural Heritage 20.4 The PEPNat and Co-responsibility in Agricultural and Forest Management 20.4.1 The Obligation to Draw Up and Process a Technical Estate Management Plan 20.4.2 Mitigation and Compensation Measures Connected with Estate Management Plans 20.4.3 Can Capellans as an Example of the Aspects to Consider in the Management Plan 20.5 Final Considerations 20.5.1 Ecological, Social, and Financial Benefits of Co-responsibility 20.5.2 Main Difficulties 20.5.3 Future Challenges References Part III: Nature-Based Solutions and Innovative Design Approaches Chapter 21: Exploring Regenerative Co-benefits of Biophilic Design for People and the Environment 21.1 Introduction 21.2 Key Research Paradigms on Benefits from Access to Nature and Health 21.2.1 Physiological and Mental Health and Well-Being 21.2.2 Cognitive Function and Performance 21.2.3 Biophilic Design Attributes and Troubles of Implementation 21.3 Applying Research to Practice 21.3.1 The Biophilic Interior Design Matrix 21.3.2 Case Study: The University of Florida Clinical and Translational Research Building 21.3.3 Oslo, Norway. The Blue-Green City: A Conscious Choice 21.4 Biophilia and Connection to Nature: A Missing Link for Sustainable Behaviour and Climate Change? 21.4.1 Linking Biophilia to Larger Ecological Systems: Rewilding and Ecosystem Design 21.5 Concluding Remarks References Chapter 22: Design the Urban Microclimate: Nature-Based Solutions and Technology at Nexus 22.1 Introduction 22.2 Selected Study Site 22.2.1 Meteorological Data 22.2.2 Environmental Design Renovation Strategies 22.3 Methods 22.3.1 Mattatoio 22.3.2 Leo Factory 22.4 Results 22.4.1 Mattatoio 22.4.1.1 The Mean Radiant Temperature 22.4.1.2 Predicted Mean Vote 22.4.1.3 Urban Daylight 22.4.2 Leo Factory 22.4.2.1 Urban Solar Potential 22.4.2.2 Outdoor Thermal Comfort and Green Infrastructure 22.5 Concluding Remarks References Chapter 23: Evolution of the Approaches to Planting Design of Parks and Gardens as Main Greenspaces of Green Infrastructure 23.1 Introduction 23.2 Methodology 23.3 Greenspaces 23.3.1 Gardens as Paradises for Soul and Body 23.3.2 Designing “Ideal” Park Nature 23.3.3 Urban Public Park Formula 23.3.4 Gardenesque Triumph over the World 23.3.5 Two Natures 23.3.6 New Planting Design Style: Towards “Biodiversinesque” 23.4 Conclusions References Chapter 24: Environment in Megacities: Tehran Waterscapes 24.1 Introduction 24.2 Tehran Between History and Modernity 24.2.1 Qajar Era (1786–1921) and Pahlavi Era (1921–1979) 24.3 Tales of a Megacity 24.4 Urban Planning in Tehran: An Overview 24.4.1 Tehran Comprehensive Plan (1966–1969) 24.4.2 Louis Khan in Tehran (1970–1971) 24.4.3 Shahestan Pahlavi, Llewelyn-Davies International (1976) 24.4.4 After the Revolution: From Tehran 80 (1996–2001) to Present Day 24.5 The Water Element 24.5.1 The Iranian Plateau 24.5.2 Qanats: A Millennial System 24.5.3 Water Streams in Tehran 24.5.4 Between Darband and Golabdareh: Maghsoudbeyk Canal 24.6 The Site 24.6.1 Urban Landscape 24.6.1.1 Tajrish Square Urban Analysis 24.6.1.2 Zargandeh Urban Analysis 24.7 The Design 24.8 Conclusions References Chapter 25: Cities Facing the Wild 25.1 Wild Matters 25.2 Wild European Seeds 25.3 Wild at Work 25.4 Wild Is Proudly Urban 25.5 Wild Is the Core 25.6 Wild is Livable 25.7 Wild Is Not Cheating 25.8 Wild Asks for Design and Care 25.9 Wild in a Changing World References Chapter 26: Biodiverse Cities: Exploring Multifunctional Green Infrastructure for Ecosystem Services and Human Well-Being 26.1 Introduction 26.2 Biodiverse Cities 26.2.1 Biodiversity and Human Well-Being 26.3 Strategies to Enhance Biodiversity in Cities 26.4 Green Infrastructure 26.4.1 Green Roofs 26.4.2 Green Walls 26.4.3 Constructed Wetlands 26.4.4 Domestic Gardens 26.5 Case Studies 26.5.1 Urban Greening Projects in Gloucestershire, UK 26.5.2 Bristol European Green Capital Award and Biodiversity Action Plan, UK 26.5.3 Green City, Clean Waters Program in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 26.5.4 Pleasant Valley Plan District, Oregon, USA 26.6 Conclusion References Chapter 27: In Consideration of the Tree: The Importance of Structure and Function in the Realization of Ecological Design 27.1 Considering the Tree: An Introduction 27.2 Planning and Design: Where an Urban Tree Will Grow 27.2.1 Site Evaluation/Preparation 27.2.2 The 3 Ps: Pervious, Porous, and Permeable 27.3 Planning and Design: What Urban Tree Will Grow 27.3.1 Tree Selection Specification 27.4 Planning and Design: How We Construct Our Built Environment 27.4.1 Establishing Value 27.5 Building WITH Trees 27.5.1 Planning Phase 27.5.2 Design Phase 27.5.3 Pre-construction Phase 27.5.4 Construction Phase 27.5.5 Post Construction 27.6 Consideration Conclusions References Correction to: Improving Extensive Green Roofs for Endangered Ground-Nesting Birds Correction to: Chapter 2 in: C. Catalano et al. (eds.), Urban Services to Ecosystems, Future City 17, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75929-2_2 Index