Urban Green Spaces

Overview & Synopsis

Urban cities are densely populated areas that prefer building constructions to the detriment of vegetated areas such as urban parks and other urban green infrastructures. From these changes in the urban tissue, several negative environmental effects have arisen, mainly related to stormwater management issues and heat stress in highly populated cities, which are being aggravated by the climate change scenario that we are already facing. As such, to mitigate those undesirable changes and aim to be the first carbon-neutral continent, Europe has launched several directives to encourage urban vegetation restoration. Urban green spaces are connected to environmental quality, besides contributing to the restoration of ecosystem services and healthier and more pleasant cities and spaces. Furthermore, urban vegetation can be implemented using different configurations (e.g., street trees, green roofs, urban parks) to improve and contribute to urban sustainability and resilience. Additionally, re-introducing urban green spaces in densely populated areas highlights the potential of these systems to help mitigate the negative effects of extreme intense climate events (heat waves and floods). Therefore, it is essential to assess and think about urban green space’s role and functions in the present to achieve resilient cities in the future.