How urban densification influences ecosystem services—a comparison between a temperate and a tropical city
Large scale and rapid urbanization processes call for a better quality of urban planning to support human well-being. While compact cities aim to reduce land consumption, densification puts pressure on the remaining green areas, influencing ecosystem services provision and ultimately the life qualit...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7acf |
| _version_ | 1797747546576125952 |
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| author | Adrienne Grêt-Regamey Marcelo Galleguillos-Torres Angela Dissegna Bettina Weibel |
| author_facet | Adrienne Grêt-Regamey Marcelo Galleguillos-Torres Angela Dissegna Bettina Weibel |
| author_sort | Adrienne Grêt-Regamey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Large scale and rapid urbanization processes call for a better quality of urban planning to support human well-being. While compact cities aim to reduce land consumption, densification puts pressure on the remaining green areas, influencing ecosystem services provision and ultimately the life quality of the growing urban population. Supply of and demand for urban ecosystem services differ however greatly across the globe. In this study, we derive a set of urban typologies and their related ecosystem services bundles in both a temperate and a tropical city. We show that the supply of urban ecosystem services does not increase linearly with green area coverage, but is highly dependent on the urban form. While the surface sealed by infrastructures and the buildings themselves play a key role in influencing ecosystem services provision, we observe that the share of trees is particularly important for supporting regulating ecosystem services in built up neighborhoods. With a similar average surface-to-volume ratio, open midrise neighborhoods in Singapore provide more water flow regulation and air pollution control services than the same urban typology in Zurich. Microclimate regulation, in contrast, does not seem to be dependent on the context, but more on the amount of built up surface. Interestingly, we observe that open midrise neighborhoods synergistically support the supply of many regulating services in both case study areas, including microclimate regulation, water flow regulation and air pollution control. Large water and forest patches are unquestionably essential in both Singapore and Zurich to support bundles of ecosystem services, particularly also for recreational activities. Using open data, the approach can be transferred to other cities and support decision makers in their efforts to plan the sustainable development of cities across the world. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:52:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b5fa8fc107c34c70adb72fa38e376104 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:52:06Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-b5fa8fc107c34c70adb72fa38e3761042023-08-09T15:05:49ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262020-01-0115707500110.1088/1748-9326/ab7acfHow urban densification influences ecosystem services—a comparison between a temperate and a tropical cityAdrienne Grêt-Regamey0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8156-9503Marcelo Galleguillos-Torres1Angela Dissegna2Bettina Weibel3Planning of Landscape and Urban Systems, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) , Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5, Zurich 8093, Switzerland; Natural Capital Singapore, Singapore-ETH Centre , 1 Create Way, Singapore 138602, Singapore; Future Cities Laboratory, Singapore ETH Center , 1 Create Way, Singapore 138602, Singapore; Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.Planning of Landscape and Urban Systems, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) , Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5, Zurich 8093, SwitzerlandFuture Cities Laboratory, Singapore ETH Center , 1 Create Way, Singapore 138602, SingaporePlanning of Landscape and Urban Systems, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) , Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5, Zurich 8093, SwitzerlandLarge scale and rapid urbanization processes call for a better quality of urban planning to support human well-being. While compact cities aim to reduce land consumption, densification puts pressure on the remaining green areas, influencing ecosystem services provision and ultimately the life quality of the growing urban population. Supply of and demand for urban ecosystem services differ however greatly across the globe. In this study, we derive a set of urban typologies and their related ecosystem services bundles in both a temperate and a tropical city. We show that the supply of urban ecosystem services does not increase linearly with green area coverage, but is highly dependent on the urban form. While the surface sealed by infrastructures and the buildings themselves play a key role in influencing ecosystem services provision, we observe that the share of trees is particularly important for supporting regulating ecosystem services in built up neighborhoods. With a similar average surface-to-volume ratio, open midrise neighborhoods in Singapore provide more water flow regulation and air pollution control services than the same urban typology in Zurich. Microclimate regulation, in contrast, does not seem to be dependent on the context, but more on the amount of built up surface. Interestingly, we observe that open midrise neighborhoods synergistically support the supply of many regulating services in both case study areas, including microclimate regulation, water flow regulation and air pollution control. Large water and forest patches are unquestionably essential in both Singapore and Zurich to support bundles of ecosystem services, particularly also for recreational activities. Using open data, the approach can be transferred to other cities and support decision makers in their efforts to plan the sustainable development of cities across the world.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7acfecosystem servicesmappingtropicsurban typologiesopen dataurban form |
| spellingShingle | Adrienne Grêt-Regamey Marcelo Galleguillos-Torres Angela Dissegna Bettina Weibel How urban densification influences ecosystem services—a comparison between a temperate and a tropical city Environmental Research Letters ecosystem services mapping tropics urban typologies open data urban form |
| title | How urban densification influences ecosystem services—a comparison between a temperate and a tropical city |
| title_full | How urban densification influences ecosystem services—a comparison between a temperate and a tropical city |
| title_fullStr | How urban densification influences ecosystem services—a comparison between a temperate and a tropical city |
| title_full_unstemmed | How urban densification influences ecosystem services—a comparison between a temperate and a tropical city |
| title_short | How urban densification influences ecosystem services—a comparison between a temperate and a tropical city |
| title_sort | how urban densification influences ecosystem services a comparison between a temperate and a tropical city |
| topic | ecosystem services mapping tropics urban typologies open data urban form |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7acf |
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