Thermal and Humidity Effect of Urban Green Spaces with Different Shapes: A Case Study of Shanghai, China

Greenspace pattern, meteorology and air pollutant in Taiwan: A multifaceted connection

Air pollution is a global environmental concern that poses a significant threat to human health. Given the impact of urbanization and climate change, green planning is being encouraged to improve air quality. The study aims to examine the intricate relationships between greenspace pattern and outdoor air around 73 in-situ stations over Taiwan during the dry (November to April) and wet (May to December) seasons from 2015 to 2020. To achieve this, Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling was utilized to analyze the interactions among seven dimensions: greenspace - GS, gaseous pollutant - GP, particle pollutant - PP, O3 - OZONE, air temperature - TEMP, relative humidity - RH, and wind speed - WS. The GS involves seven landscape metrics: edge density, total edge, effective mesh size, largest patch area, percentage of landscape, total core area, and patch cohesion index. The results indicate that the GS has a stronger effect on the GP, whereas its effect on the PP is weaker during the dry season compared to the wet season. While its effect on the TEMP is weaker, it shows a slightly stronger effect on the RH during the dry season. Moreover, the GS mediates the air pollutant dimensions during the two seasons, with the RH acting as a primary mediator. The meteorological dimensions primarily have a greater influence on the air pollutant dimensions during the dry season than the wet season. Consequently, the GS explains 11.3 % more and 18.4 % less of the variances in the RH and TEMP during the dry season, respectively. Moreover, the GS and meteorological dimensions yield a seasonal difference in explained variance, with the highest value observed for the OZONE (R2 = 24.2 %), followed by the PP (R2 = 9.7 %) and GP (R2 = 7.7 %). Notably, seven landscape metrics serve as potential indicators for green strategies in urban planning to enhance outdoor air quality.

Optimization of Green Space Planning to Improve Ecosystem Services Efficiency: The Case of Chongqing Urban Areas

This paper applied landscape indexes to evaluate the size, form, and structure of green spaces in the mountainous city of Chongqing and found that green spaces benefit from certain advantages in size, but the network suffered from low heterogeneity and limited interconnectivity. To ensure the integrity and continuity of ecological processes and improve the efficiency of ecosystem services (ES), the authors used Geographic Information System (GIS) software to conduct adaptability evaluation and adjacent buffer analysis for the existing green spaces, wetlands, rivers, and other landscapes with relatively high capacity for ES. We designed a comprehensive map of potential areas for UGS expansion by superimposing the maps obtained from adaptability evaluation and buffer analysis. We also proposed some strategies that respect, consider, and evaluate aspects and special features of urban environment to optimize green space planning and improve ES efficiency, such as protection of important areas, development of green corridors, and careful consideration of ecological processes and complex functions in urban areas. Based on these strategies, the paper put forth suggestions for green space planning to improve ES efficiency that can function as foundation for subsequent green space planning.