Assessing the drivers shaping global patterns of urban vegetation landscape structure

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 592; pp. 171 - 177
• Main Authors: Dobbs, C., Nitschke, C., Kendal, D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 15.08.2017
• Subjects: Cities; Climate; Demography; Ecosystem; GDP; Gini Index; Humans; Landscape metrics; Plants; Socio-ecological systems; Socioeconomic Factors; Urban ecology; Urban ecosystems; Urban ecosystems; Socio-ecological systems; Climate; GDP; Urban ecology; Landscape metrics; Gini Index
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.03.058

Vegetation is one of the main resources involve in ecosystem functioning and providing ecosystem services in urban areas. Little is known on the landscape structure patterns of vegetation existing in urban areas at the global scale and the drivers of these patterns. We studied the landscape structure of one hundred cities around the globe, and their relation to demography (population), socioeconomic factors (GDP, Gini Index), climate factors (temperature and rain) and topographic characteristics (altitude, variation in altitude). The data revealed that the best descriptors of landscape structure were amount, fragmentation and spatial distribution of vegetation. Populated cities tend to have less, more fragmented, less connected vegetation with a centre of the city with low vegetation cover. Results also provided insights on the influence of socioeconomics at a global scale, as landscape structure was more fragmented in areas that are economically unequal and coming from emergent economies. This study shows the effects of the social system and climate on urban landscape patterns that gives useful insights for the distribution in the provision of ecosystem services in urban areas and therefore the maintenance of human well-being. This information can support local and global policy and planning which is committing our cities to provide accessible and inclusive green space for all urban inhabitants. [Display omitted] •We studied urban vegetation at the landscape scale for one hundred cities and its relation to sociodemographic and climate•The landscape metrics best describing urban vegetation structure: amount, fragmentation and distribution of green cover•The climate and socioeconomic context relates to the degree of fragmentation and amount of urban vegetation•Planning can improve vegetation structure by increasing, connecting and better distributing vegetation in cities