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Urban Green Infrastructure Impacts on Climate Regulation Services in Sydney, Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Brenda B. Lin

    (CSIRO Land & Water, PMB 1, Aspendale VIC 3195, Australia)

  • Jacqui Meyers

    (CSIRO Land & Water, Clunies Ross St., Black Mountain ACT 2601, Australia)

  • R. Matthew Beaty

    (CSIRO Land & Water, Clunies Ross St., Black Mountain ACT 2601, Australia)

  • Guy B. Barnett

    (CSIRO Land & Water, Clunies Ross St., Black Mountain ACT 2601, Australia)

Abstract

In many parts of the world, urban planning has a renewed focus on addressing the multiple challenges associated with population growth and climate change. Focused on local needs and priorities, these planning processes are raising tensions between more compact and dense urban form to reduce energy use and associated emissions and the provision of urban green infrastructure for ecosystem services and climate adaptation. In this study, we investigated the spatial distribution of green infrastructure at the neighbourhood scale in Sydney, Australia and examined how a mix of landscape types (pavement, bare soil/dry grass, green grass, and tree cover) affect temperature variation in three important locations for urban residents—around the home, in the roads and footpaths where people walk, and in parkland areas. Considering that residential and parkland areas contribute to the majority of green space in Sydney, it is important to understand how changes in landscape mix within these three neighbourhood areas will affect local temperature for urban residents. For residential houses, it was found that the percentage of tree canopy cover around the house had a significant negative relationship ( p = 0.002) with surface temperatures of rooftops where greater tree cover led to lower rooftop temperatures. In streetscapes, both the percentage of tree cover ( p < 0.0001) and the percentage of green grass ( p < 0.0001) within the road segment had a significant negative relationship with the surface temperature of the road pavement. In the parks, the percentage of pavement ( p < 0.0001) and the percentage of bare soil/dry grass ( p < 0.0001) showed a significantly positive trend with land surface temperatures where greater land cover in the form of pavement and bare soil/dry grass led to higher temperatures. Collectively, these findings highlight the importance of promoting or reducing certain landscape covers depending on the land use type in order to maximise the cooling potential of green infrastructure.

Suggested Citation

  • Brenda B. Lin & Jacqui Meyers & R. Matthew Beaty & Guy B. Barnett, 2016. "Urban Green Infrastructure Impacts on Climate Regulation Services in Sydney, Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-13, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:8:p:788-:d:75766
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Pia Minixhofer & Rosemarie Stangl, 2021. "Green Infrastructures and the Consideration of Their Soil-Related Ecosystem Services in Urban Areas—A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-21, March.
    2. Jaime Aguilar Rojas & Amalesh Dhar & M. Anne Naeth, 2021. "Urban Naturalization for Green Spaces Using Soil Tillage, Herbicide Application, Compost Amendment and Native Vegetation," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-14, August.
    3. Patryk Antoszewski & Dariusz Świerk & Michał Krzyżaniak, 2020. "Statistical Review of Quality Parameters of Blue-Green Infrastructure Elements Important in Mitigating the Effect of the Urban Heat Island in the Temperate Climate (C) Zone," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-36, September.
    4. Mauro Francini & Lucia Chieffallo & Annunziata Palermo & Maria Francesca Viapiana, 2020. "A Method for the Definition of Local Vulnerability Domains to Climate Change and Relate Mapping. Two Case Studies in Southern Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-26, November.
    5. Rao, Yingxue & Dai, Jingyi & Dai, Deyi & He, Qingsong, 2021. "Effect of urban growth pattern on land surface temperature in China: A multi-scale landscape analysis of 338 cities," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    6. Karsten Grunewald & Olaf Bastian ., 2017. "Special Issue: “Maintaining Ecosystem Services to Support Urban Needs”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-9, September.
    7. Agata Cabanek & Maria Elena Zingoni de Baro & Joshua Byrne & Peter Newman, 2021. "Regenerating Stormwater Infrastructure into Biophilic Urban Assets. Case Studies of a Sump Garden and a Sump Park in Western Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-16, May.
    8. Chen, Wenqi & Pan, Jinghan & Quan, Steven Jige & Wei, Hailu & Wang, Wei, 2026. "Scalable impact of urban green infrastructure on urban climate: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 226(PA).
    9. Jan K. Kazak & Jakub Chruściński & Szymon Szewrański, 2018. "The Development of a Novel Decision Support System for the Location of Green Infrastructure for Stormwater Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-20, November.
    10. Erica Honeck & Atte Moilanen & Benjamin Guinaudeau & Nicolas Wyler & Martin A. Schlaepfer & Pascal Martin & Arthur Sanguet & Loreto Urbina & Bertrand von Arx & Joëlle Massy & Claude Fischer & Anthony , 2020. "Implementing Green Infrastructure for the Spatial Planning of Peri-Urban Areas in Geneva, Switzerland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, February.
    11. Laura Moretti & Giuseppe Cantisani & Marco Carpiceci & Antonio D’Andrea & Giulia Del Serrone & Paola Di Mascio & Paolo Peluso & Giuseppe Loprencipe, 2022. "Investigation of Parking Lot Pavements to Counteract Urban Heat Islands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-21, June.
    12. Patryk Antoszewski & Michał Krzyżaniak & Dariusz Świerk, 2022. "The Future of Climate-Resilient and Climate-Neutral City in the Temperate Climate Zone," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-60, April.
    13. Irena Niedźwiecka-Filipiak & Justyna Rubaszek & Jerzy Potyrała & Paweł Filipiak, 2019. "The Method of Planning Green Infrastructure System with the Use of Landscape-Functional Units (Method LaFU) and its Implementation in the Wrocław Functional Area (Poland)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-23, January.
    14. Jaime Aguilar Rojas & Amalesh Dhar & M. Anne Naeth, 2022. "Urban Green Spaces Restoration Using Native Forbs, Site Preparation and Soil Amendments—A Case Study," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, March.

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