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Role of Vegetation as a Mitigating Factor in the Urban Context

Author

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  • Francesco Ferrini

    (Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, University of Florence, 50144 Florence, Italy
    National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (IPSP), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy)

  • Alessio Fini

    (Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences—Production, Landscape, Agroenergy, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy)

  • Jacopo Mori

    (Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, University of Florence, 50144 Florence, Italy)

  • Antonella Gori

    (Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, University of Florence, 50144 Florence, Italy
    National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (IPSP), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy)

Abstract

It is known that the urban environment amplifies the effects of climate change, sometimes with disastrous consequences that put people at risk. These aspects can be affected by urban vegetation and planting design but, while there are thousands of papers related to the effects of climate change, a relatively limited number of them are directly aimed at investigating the role of vegetation as a mitigating factor in the urban context. This paper focuses on reviewing the research on the role of urban vegetation in alleviating the adverse conditions of the urban environment in order to provide some practical guidelines to be applied by city planners. Through an analysis of the documents found in Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar using urban vegetation and climate change-related keywords we selected five major issues related to the urban environment: (1) particulate matter, (2) gaseous pollution, (3) noise pollution, (4) water runoff, (5) urban heat island effect. The analysis of existing knowledge reported here indicates that the roles of urban vegetation on the adverse effect of climate change could not be simply deemed positive or negative, because the role of urban green is also strongly linked to the structure, composition, and distribution of vegetation, as well as to the criteria used for management. Therefore, it could help to better understand the roles of urban green as a complex system and provide the foundation for future studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Ferrini & Alessio Fini & Jacopo Mori & Antonella Gori, 2020. "Role of Vegetation as a Mitigating Factor in the Urban Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-22, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:10:p:4247-:d:361528
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    Cited by:

    1. MariaElena Menconi & Rosaria Abbate & Luca Simone & David Grohmann, 2023. "Urban Green System Planning Insights for a Spatialized Balance between PM 10 Dust Retention Capacity of Trees and Urban Vehicular PM 10 Emissions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, March.
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    5. Miroslava Mitrović & Tijana Blanusa & Marija Pavlović & Dragana Pavlović & Olga Kostić & Veljko Perović & Snežana Jarić & Pavle Pavlović, 2021. "Using Fractionation Profile of Potentially Toxic Elements in Soils to Investigate Their Accumulation in Tilia sp. Leaves in Urban Areas with Different Pollution Levels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-24, August.
    6. Robert Popek & Beata Fornal-Pieniak & Filip Chyliński & Magdalena Pawełkowicz & Jan Bobrowicz & Dominika Chrzanowska & Natalia Piechota & Arkadiusz Przybysz, 2022. "Not Only Trees Matter—Traffic-Related PM Accumulation by Vegetation of Urban Forests," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, March.
    7. Francisco J. Tapiador & Andrés Navarro & Josu Mezo & Sergio de la Llave & Jesús Muñoz, 2021. "Urban Vegetation Leveraging Actions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-20, April.
    8. Manca Dremel & Barbara Goličnik Marušić & Igor Zelnik, 2023. "Defining Natural Habitat Types as Nature-Based Solutions in Urban Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-22, September.
    9. Maria Elena Menconi & Ambra Sipone & David Grohmann, 2021. "Complex Systems Thinking Approach to Urban Greenery to Provide Community-Tailored Solutions and Enhance the Provision of Cultural Ecosystem Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, October.
    10. Luca Rossi & Maria Elena Menconi & David Grohmann & Antonio Brunori & David J. Nowak, 2022. "Urban Planning Insights from Tree Inventories and Their Regulating Ecosystem Services Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-18, February.
    11. Sultan Ayoub Meo & Faris Jamal Almutairi & Abdulelah Adnan Abukhalaf & Adnan Mahmood Usmani, 2021. "Effect of Green Space Environment on Air Pollutants PM2.5, PM10, CO, O 3 , and Incidence and Mortality of SARS-CoV-2 in Highly Green and Less-Green Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-11, December.
    12. Ertugrul Esmeray & Sercan Eren, 2021. "GIS-based mapping and assessment of noise pollution in Safranbolu, Karabuk, Turkey," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(10), pages 15413-15431, October.
    13. Giulio Senes & Chiara Parretta & Natalia Fumagalli & Patrizia Tassinari & Daniele Torreggiani, 2023. "Soft Mobility Network for the Enhancement and Discovery of the Rural Landscape: Definition of a Masterplan for Alto Ferrarese (Italy)," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-24, February.
    14. Gábor László Vasárus & József Lennert, 2022. "Suburbanization within City Limits in Hungary—A Challenge for Environmental and Social Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-19, July.

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