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Anna Maria Jönsson

Head of department

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Urban ecosystem conditions and ecosystem services – a comparison between large urban zones and city cores in the EU

Author

  • Christina Kourdounouli
  • Anna Maria Jönsson

Summary, in English

Almost three out of four EU citizens live in urban areas. Knowledge on the city’s environmental structure and capabilities is needed as urbanization is expected to continue. In this study, eight indicators on urban ecosystems condition (ECIs) were quantified for 305 EU cities (>100.000 inhabitants). A composite indicator (CI), based on the ECIs, indicated differences between northern and southern EU countries, with Umeå having the highest CI value (1.56) and Napoli the lowest (−1.21). Positive effects of urban green infrastructure (GI) were found for NO2 removal, recreation opportunities and lowered urban heat island effect. The proportion of green and built infrastructure differs between city cores and larger urban zones, and the area outside the core hosts a considerable part of the overall GI. This zone is thus of importance for the provisioning of urban ecosystem services, to be considered when planning for urban growth and climate adaptation strategies.

Department/s

  • Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate

Publishing year

2020

Language

English

Pages

798-817

Publication/Series

Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

Volume

63

Issue

5

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Landscape Architecture
  • Human Geography

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0964-0568