Butterfly taxonomic and functional diversity in the urban green spaces of Hefei city

Urbanization has profound impacts on ecological environments. Green spaces are a vital component of urban ecosystems and play a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance and enhancing sustainability. This study aimed to investigate the community composition characteristics of butterflies in urban green spaces within the context of rapid urbanization. Simultaneously, it explored the status and differences in butterfly taxonomic diversity, functional diversity, and functional traits among different types of urban green spaces, regions, and urban gradients to provide relevant insights for further improving urban green space quality and promoting biodiversity conservation. We conducted a year-long survey of 80 green spaces across different urban regions and ring roads within Hefei City, Anhui Province, with monthly sampling intervals over 187 transects. A total of 4822 butterflies, belonging to 5 families, 17 subfamilies, 40 genera, and 55 species were identified. The species richness, Shannon, Simpson, functional richness, and Rao's quadratic entropy indices of butterflies in urban park green spaces were all significantly higher than those in residential and street green spaces(P < 0.05). Differences in butterfly diversity and functional traits among different urban regions and ring roads were relatively minor, and small-sized, multivoltine, and long flying duration butterflies dominated urban green spaces. Overall, these spaces offer more favorable habitats for butterflies. However, some residential green spaces and street green spaces demonstrate potential for butterfly conservation.

Identity of Urban Spaces: Assessment and Evaluation

As a major symbol of civilization,the city was built by man for his security and comfort.It is not only a settlement,but also an urban development which has been identified with the spirit that has been breathed into the community.Urban identity which is also known as collective identity,has gained meaning through the content of objective manifestation and the creation of flashbacks,citizens’memories and mental associations.That is what makes urban dwellers become citizens.Although the identity of the city is a result of civic culture,it still has an influence on the process of citizenship and can also be a reason for developing criteria related to the participation and assessment of its inhabitants.According to the view that identity is a set of traits and characteristics that distinguishes the dignity of a person and a society from other individuals and communities,a city becomes characterized and independent by adhering to these criteria.Despite the importance of identity as one of the richest qualitative aspects of urban life that gives meaning and fulfilment to the human quiddity,this complicated and expanded concept has still not been seriously considered,especially in relation to urban spaces.In fact,identity in architecture and urban spaces has recently diminished,since the main focus lies on building spaces for optimized profit and not for high quality living areas.In this research paper,parameters affecting urban identity are evaluated,and strategies and guidelines to promote these parameters are finally presented.

Construction of Economic Urban Green Spaces with a Case Study of Shijiazhuang City

The accelerating urbanization has brought various problems in environment, land, fund and so on. With the guidance of market economy, economic urban green spaces have become the optimal choice in urban landscaping of China, which can not only improve urban landscapes, ecological environment, satisfy higher spiritual and cultural demands of people, but also create considerable economic benefits, and enhance the coordinated development of economy, society and environment. With Shijiazhuang City as an example, the approaches of constructing economic urban green spaces fit for Shijiazhuang City were analyzed in this study, to provide references for the construction of economic urban green spaces in other cities.

Optimization Transmission Theory and Technical Pathways that Describe Multiscale Urban Agglomeration Spaces

Urban agglomerations are spatial entities that promote the development of ‘new urbanization' processes within China. In this context, the concept of ‘multiscale urban agglomeration spaces' encompasses three linked levels: macroscale urban agglomerations, mesoscale cities, and microscale urban centers. Applying a series of multidisciplinary integrated research methods drawn from geography, urban planning, and architecture, this paper reveals two intensive utilization laws that can be generalized to apply to multiscale urban agglomeration spaces, top-to-bottom ‘positive transmission' linkage and inside-to-outside ‘negative transmission' movement. This paper also proposes optimization transmission theory and policy decision technical pathways that can be applied to these three urban agglomeration spatial scales. Specific technical pathways of transmission include intensive expansion and simulated decision-making in macroscale urban agglomerations, ecology, production, and living space intensive layout and dynamic decision-making in mesoscale cities, and four cores(i.e., ‘single, ring, axis, and pole core') progressive linkage and intensive optimization decision-making in microscale urban centers. The theory and technical pathways proposed in this paper solve the technical problem of optimization and provide intensive methods that can be applied not only at the individual level but also at multiple scales in urban agglomeration spaces. This study also advances a series of comprehensive technical solutions that can be applied to both compact and smart growth cities as well as to urban agglomerations. Solid theoretical support is provided for the optimization of Chinese land development, urbanization, agricultural development, and ecological security.

Factors influencing the concentration of negative air ions during the year in forests and urban green spaces of the Dapeng Peninsula in Shenzhen, China

Negative air ions(NAIs)benefit the mental and physical health of humans,but rapid urbanization can decrease the abundance of NAIs.Quantifying the spatial and seasonal distribution of NAIs and determining the factors that infl uence the concentration during urbanization is thus essential.In the present study of a typical developing urban district in southern China,negative air ion concentrations(NAICs)in 60 forests sites and 30 urban green spaces were quantifi ed on seven consecutive days in each of the four seasons.Large seasonal variations in NAIC were revealed in forests and urban green spaces with trough values in summer.NAIC progressively decreased from forests to urban green spaces and was infl uenced by local land morphology,vegetation characteristics,and climatic factors.The vast,heavily vegetated northeastern region was the richest area for NAIs,whereas the narrow central region(urbanized area)was the poorest,implying dramatic impacts of urbanization on the spatial distribution of NAIs.The relationship between air temperature and NAIC was better fi tted with a quadratic equation than a linear equation.Moreover,the NAIC was more sensitive to local morphology in urban green spaces than in urban forests,indicating the vulnerability of NAIs in urbanized areas.Therefore,the appropriate design of local urban morphology is critical.

An Assessment of Ecosystem Services of Urban Green Spaces Based on i-Tree

Ecosystem services of urban green spaces play an important role in the sustainable development of the urban ecosystem. How to quantify the ecological benefits of urban green spaces and evaluate their ecological services is a hot topic in related fields. Currently, with the advancement of science and technology, the assessment method has been developed from the traditional ones such as the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers(CTLA) method, afforestation cost method, and carbon tax method to CITYgreen and i-Tree. The latter two models have been widely used in countries of Europe and America, while the use of i-Tree has not been promoted in China. In this paper, i-Tree Eco(UFORE) was selected for research, and its application in the assessment of the ecosystem services of urban green spaces, including energy saving, air quality improvement, interception of rainwater, and aesthetic benefits, were analyzed. This study aims to provide a theoretical and scientific basis for the introduction and localization of i-Tree, as well as its generalization in the assessment of forest ecosystem services domestically.

Urban Green Spaces and an Integrative Approach to Sustainable Environment

This paper explains the benefits and challenges of urban green spaces based on the critical discussion of study results from different studies in different cities. The important roles played by green spaces are social, economic, cultural and environmental aspects of sustainable development. Urban green spaces can be a comprehensive tool for long term protection of environmental sustainability through improving the quality of life and air quality, increasing property value due to their amenity and aesthetic characteristics, and reducing the energy costs of cooling buildings. Urban green spaces also can provide ecosystem services in which the recreation and relaxation facilities are especially available to urban dwellers and tourists too. To confirm the multiple roles played by green spaces, certain level of qualitative improvements and distribution of green spaces within the urban area should be considered and incorporated effectively into the environmental sustainability agenda. To do this, an integrated approach regarding the planning, monitoring, designing and maintaining of urban green spaces is required for improving the environmental sustainability in cities in different countries.

SPATIAL GRADIENT ANALYSIS OF URBAN GREEN SPACES COMBINED WITH LANDSCAPE METRICS IN JINAN CITY OF CHINA

Urban green spaces have been arisen growing concern responded to the social and environmental costs of urban sprawl. A wide range of planning and policies has been and/or will be designed to protect urban green spaces and optimize their spatial pattern. A better design or planning of urban green space can make a major contribution to quality of environment and urban life, and furthermore can decide whether we can have a sustainable development in the urban area. Information about the status quo of urban green spaces can help planners design more effectively. However, how to quantify and capture such information will be the essential question we face. In this paper, to quantify the urban green space, a new method comprising gradient analysis, landscape metrics and GIS was developed through a case of Jinan City. The results demonstrate: 1) the gradient analysis is a valid and reliable instrument to quantify the urban green space spatial pattern precisely; 2) using moving window, explicit landscape metrics were spatially realized. Compared with quantifying metrics in the entire landscape, it would be better to link pattern with process and establish an important basis for analyzing the ecological and socioeconomic functions of green spaces.

Application of Vertical Greening as a New Model of Expanding Urban Green Spaces

Vertical greening is a new pattern of expanding urban green spaces. Based on the concept of vertical greening, several approaches and available patterns were introduced for the vertical greening of urban spaces. Moreover, the mostly-applied vertical greening plants in China and their value were given to provide a new thought for urban greening.

Planning of Urban Public Disaster-prevention Green Spaces: A Case Study of Living Water Park in Chengdu City

Based on disaster-prevention functions of urban public green spaces, necessity and significance of emergency shelters in a city were analyzed. Taking Living Water Park in Chengdu for example, planning of urban public disaster-prevention green spaces was analyzed to further explore planning of urban disaster-prevention green space system and refugee spaces, and provide instructions for the planning and construction of urban disaster-prevention green spaces in China.

Utilisation of green urban space for food sufficiency and the realisation of the sustainable development goals-UK stakeholders perspective

The exponential growth of food demand due to the increasing global population has the potential to seriously threaten the quality and quantity of food supplies due to climate change.This study explores the utilisation of green urban spaces for achieving food self-sufficiency by investigating the extent to which sustainable urban farms could be used to reduce the consumption of imported produce in the UK.It also examines urban farming stakeholders'perspective on how food self-sufficiency can help realise the SDGs especially SDG 2(Zero hunger)and SDG 13(Climate action).The study adopts a mixed method approach through a survey with 115 respondents and semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 respondents from 4 different urban farming stakeholder groups.The findings of this study presented a strong correlation between stakeholders who had concerns about where their food came from and the carbon footprint of imported produce.The research shows that,urban farms will no doubt play a vital role in the future of food security in our cities/communities and that the SDGs could be realised through sustainable urban farms implemented within the relevant planning regulations/policies.

Evaluation method of the ecological benefits of urban green spaces and application conditions

The importance of ecological benefit analyses about green space systems has been widely discussed on the basis of a perceived bias towards the landscaping effect of green spaces to be built in urban areas as opposed to the perception of comprehensive ecological benefits of designed plant communities. Given the basic principle of ecological benefit analyses and evaluation methods widely applied today, the methodology to calculate ecological benefits and to model the expansion of urban green spaces by CITY- green 5.0 and its conditions for application were explored. We propose that aerial images can be substituted by AutoCAD graphics of a green space containing detailed information of plant dispositions by digitizing the key features during the working process in order to evaluate the ecological benefits quickly and to offer proper guidance to the establishment of small scale green spaces in urban areas. The theoretical foundation, potential application range and prospects for extension of the method are introduced by using the analysis of ecological benefits of the green spaces on the campus of Southwest Forestry College, Kunming, as an example.

Genius Loci of Urban Public Spaces: A Case Study of Daihu Lake Landscape Planning in New Shouzhan District, Changle City, Fujian Province

Connotations of genius loci of urban public spaces were explored, geographical position and composition of Daihu landscape design in New Shouzhan District, Changle City, Fujian Province was introduced. Design concepts, layouts and patterns were summarized by combining with geographical and cultural conditions of the study area. Functional zoning of Daihu landscape design was analyzed, human-centered site planning stressed to realize functions of new urban public spaces, regression of cultural and humanistic properties of these spaces, so as to provide diverse options for the future construction of urban public spaces.

Bibliometric analysis of research challenges and trends in urban underground space

The utilization and development of urban underground space play a crucial role in optimizing the layout of civic architecture and enhancing the urban ecological environment,which contributes toward increasing the overall carrying capacity and promoting sustainable development in megacities.To delve into the research progress of urban underground space,knowledge maps were created using the information visualization software VOSviewer.The literature was systematically extracted from three prominent databases,namely,Web of Science,Scopus,and China National Knowledge Infrastructure.According to the bibliometric analysis of the co-citation and core words co-occurrence,the trends and challenges of research on urban underground space were identified.As highlighted by the results obtained,it still remains highly challenging to achieve interdisciplinary collaboration in urban underground space research;the research trends of urban underground space consist of collaborative planning and whole life cycle sustainable development,multisource geological data informatization and resource evaluation,infrastructure design optimization,and intelligent construction.The knowledge map,drawn using bibliometric methods,offers a quantitative analysis of literature retrieval across various levels.It is recognized as an essential tool for exploring and identifying challenges and trends in urban underground space.

Effective Instructions in Design Process of Urban Public Spaces to Promote Sustainable Development

Public spaces in cities have long been the basis used for the expression of cultural values and social relations. Cultural and social systems have an old two-sided relation. This means that the establishment and continuity of social relationships strengthen the values and norms;on the other hand, culture determines the conditions and the formation of social relationships. Therefore, to create a bonding connection between people and the city, urban public spaces are the focal points which still need to be noticed more effectively by designers and managers. There are components which help the designers design more efficient urban public spaces and, as a consequence, there will be more vitality in cities. In today conditions, sustainability issues, as the solutions of having better future conditions, can considerably affect these components and give the society the opportunity of having more capable public spaces. Sum of studies in the field of sustainability and the subsequent sustainable public spaces researches mainly express three components of environment, economy and society, among which environment section is more significant than two others, so that the importance of climatic design components has been tangibly noted in public space designing. The aim of this paper is reviewing urban public spaces and sustainability notions and, as the result, reaching to some instructions for designing sustainable urban public spaces which have important impacts on these types of places. By doing this, not only the possibility of getting closer to the identity of cities, but also the necessary ground for the strong presence of sustainable urban public spaces in cities, are provided. The research method is descriptive-analytic and library research method is used for data collecting.

Research on the Optimization of Public Spaces in Urban Villages Based on Space Syntax:A Case Study of Luochengtou Village in Handan City

This paper based on the theory of space syntax took Luochengtou Village in Handan City,Hebei Province for example,tried to figure out a proper way for the renewal of urban villages,and change the current dilemma of"one-size-fits-all"and"removing all"in most cases,and put forward that local conditions and regional characteristics must be considered to propose the renewal strategies more suitable for the targeted objects.Based on the space syntax Depthmap software and field investigation,the paper analyzed the accessibility,intelligibility and throughput of public spaces in Luochengtou Village,and put forward 3 optimization strategies in view of the problems such as insufficient public spaces,poor accessibility and intelligibility of roads,and poor activity of spaces,specifically,increasing public activity spaces,sorting out public space network,and creating active space nodes,so as to optimize public environment of the village,enhance villagers’sense of belonging,sense of safety and sense of identity.

Application of Drought-resistant Varieties in Urban Green Spaces

As the connotations of urban green spaces and urban eco-green spaces have been more realized,drought-resistant green spaces have become a unique development trend,and drought-resistant flowers have been more applied in green spaces.This paper summarized characteristics of drought-resistant flowers,foreign and domestic researches in this field,advantages and disadvantages of their application in urban green spaces,and proposed key directions of the future researches.

Exploring the Element Integration of Urban and Rural“Space of Flows”in the Context of Consumption Upgrading:A Case Study of Changsi Village in Anhui Province

The mobility and interaction between urban and rural areas are becoming more and more intensive,and their links and exchanges are increasingly closer due to constant flow of factors such as information,capital,personnel and technology.In this context,the element integration of urban and rural“space of flows”can promote the integrated development of urban and rural areas,improve the consumption environment and experience,and promote the industrial upgrading and technological progress.To realize the element integration of urban and rural“space of flows”,it is necessary to explore and innovate in infrastructure construction,information technology application,industrial cooperation and cultural exchanges.Government departments,enterprises and social organizations also need to work together to give play to their respective advantages and jointly promote the process of element integration of urban and rural“space of flows”.

Urban Public Spaces and Design of Historical and Cultural Buildings——Series II of Urban Public Space Design

This paper summarized concept and role of urban public space, highlighted its role in emotional exchange, cultural exchange, and business communication, and the significance of showing inside image of the city in terms of morality and residents' quality. Combining with design of historical and cultural buildings, the paper explored the forms of historical and cultural buildings in urban public spaces from the perspectives of administration square, religious square, cultural square and commercial street, so as to design "human-concerned" urban public spaces that meet human needs and reflect personality of the city.

Research on the Application and Development of Digital Media Art in Urban Public Space Design

Digital media art is an emerging art form that combines digital technology and media art.It has huge potential to bring innovation to urban public spaces and provide them with vibrant artistic experiences.This article analyzes the design significance and value of digital media art in urban public space,its various forms of application in urban public space design,and the innovative ideas and paths that digital media art can take in urban public space to guide the future.The application and innovative methods of digital media art in urban public space design provide certain theoretical and practical references for urban planners and designers.