Chapter 1. Analysis of the Implications between Declining Cities, Urban Vacant Land Uses, Green Infrastructure, and Their Impact on Climate Change Hazards

$39.50

José G. Vargas-Hernández1 and Omar C. Vargas-González2
1Research professor Postgraduate and Research Division, Jose Mario Molina Pasquel and Henriquez Institute of Technology, Zapopan Unit, The Basin, Zapopan, Jalisco
2Professor Systems Department, National Technological Institute of Mexico, Mexico

Part of the book: Sustainable and Healthy Building Environments

Abstract

This chapter has the aim to analyze the implications between the declining and shrinking cities, urban vacant lands, urban land uses, green infrastructures, urban green areas, and their impact on climate hazards change. The analysis departs from the basic assumption that urban vacant land sites and spaces have a negative connotation but supported by the appropriate policies and programs of incentives can turn around and develop the essential green infrastructure to enable the mitigation of climate change hazards, economic growth, and socio ecological development. The method used is the analytical-descriptive base on the theoretical and empirical literature review. It is concluded that the land uses of vacant land sites more vacationed towards urban green innovation infrastructure and forest areas contribute to mitigate the climate change hazards.

Keywords: climate change, hazards, declining cities, forest areas, green infrastructure, land use, shrinking cities, urban vacant land


References


Abdollahi, K. K., Ning, Z. H., Appeaning, A. (2000). Gulf Coast Regional Climate Change
Council. In Global Climate Change & the Urban Forest; Franklin Press: Baton Rouge,
LA, USA.
Accordino, J., Johnson, G. T. (2000). Addressing the vacant and abandoned property
problem. J. Urban Aff., 22, 301–315.
Ackerman, K. (2012). The Potential for Urban Agriculture in New York City: Growing
Capacity, Food Security, & Green Infrastructure; Urban Design Lab at the Columbia
Earth Institute: New York, NY, USA.
Alexander, F. S. (2005) Land Bank Authorities: A Guide for the Creation and Operation of
Local Land Banks; Local Initiatives Support Corporation: New York, NY, USA, 2005;
Available online: http://www.nhc.org/media/files/Land_Bank_Authorities-Alexander.pdf
(accessed on 18 December 2015).
Angel, S., Sheppard, S., & Civco, D. (2005). The dynamics of global urban expansion.
Washington DC: Transport and Urban Development Department, World Bank.
Baró, F., Chaparro, L., Gómez-Baggethun, E., Langemeyer, J., Nowak, D. J., Terradas, J.
(2014). Contribution of ecosystem services to air quality and climate change
mitigation policies: The case of urban forests in Barcelona, Spain. Ambio, 43, 466–479.
Blakeman, C., Brown, B., Fitzpatrick, B. T., Shaw, I., Williamson, A. (2008). City-Wide
Brownfield Redevelopment Plan; Report Prepared for the City of Roanoke, VA, USA;
City Council: Roanoke, VA, USA, 2008.
Blakeman, C., Brown, B., Fitzpatrick, B. T., Shaw, I., Williamson, A. (2008). City-Wide
Brownfield Redevelopment Plan; City Council: Roanoke, VA, USA, 2008.
Blanco, H., McCarney, P., Parnell, S., Schmidt, M., & Seto, K. (2011). The role of urban
land in climate change. In C. Rozensweig, W. Solecki, & S. Hammer (Vol. Eds.), First
Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN) assessment report on climate
change in cities. 2011. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bonham, J. B., Jr., Spilka, G. (1995). Urban Vacant Land: Issues and Recommendations;
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society: Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Bonham, J. B., Spilka, G., Rastorfer, D. (2002). Old Cities/Green Cities: Planning Advisory
Service Report Number 506/507; American Planning Association: Chicago, IL, USA,
Bowman, A. O. M., Pagano, M. A. (2004) Terra Incognita: Vacant Land and Urban
Strategies; Georgetown University Press: Washington, DC, USA, 2004.
Branas, C. C., Cheney, R. A., MacDonald, J. M., Tam, V. W., Jackson, T. D., Ten Have,
T. R. (2011) A difference in differences analysis of health, safety, and greening vacant
urban space. Am. J. Epidemiol., 174, 1296–1306.
Brandes, D. (1995). The flora of old town centers in Europe. In Urban Ecology as the Basis
for Urban Planning; Sukoop, H., Numata, M., Huber, A., Eds.; SPB Academic
Publishing: Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Burkholder, S. (2012). The new ecology of vacancy: Rethinking land use in shrinking cities.
Sustainability, 4, 1154–1172.
Carter, J. G., Cavan, G., Connelly, A., Guy, S., Handley, J., & Kazmierczak, A. (2015).
Climate change and the city: Building capacity for urban adaptation. Progress in
Planning, 95, 1–66.
City of Pittsburgh. Greening Resources. (2012). Available online:
http://www.pittsburghpa.gov/neighborhoodinitiatives/greenup/resources.htm
(accessed on 19 June 2015).
Coleman, A. (1982). Dead space in the dying inner city. Int. J. Environ. Stud., 19, 103–107.
Crauderueff, R., Margolis, S., Tanikawa, S. (2012) Greening Vacant Lots: Planning and
Implementation Strategies, The Nature Conservancy: New York, NY, USA, 2012.
Darlington, A. (1969). Ecology of Refuse Tips; Heinemann Educational: London, UK,
1969.
Dietersdorfer, L., Efremova, V., Fernandez Agueda, B., Fleschurz, R., Mangialardi, G.,
Piscitelli, C., Wolff, M. (2012). Urban shrinkage and chances for adaptation to
climate change. Final report EU-COST action: TU0803.
European Commission (2013). Building a Green Infrastructure for Europe. Brussels:
European Commission.
European Environment Agency (EEA) (2012). Urban adaptation to climate change in
Europe: Challenges and opportunities for cities together with supportive national and
European policies. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European
Union.
Fohrer, N., Haverkamp, S., Eckhardt, K., and Frede, H. G. (2001). Hydrologic Response to
Land Use Changes on the Watershed Scale. Hydrology, Oceans and Atmosphere,
Volume 26(7-8): 577-582.
Gill, S., Handley, J., Ennos, A., & Pauleit, S. (2007). Adapting cities for climate change:
The role of the green infrastructure. Built Environment, 33(1), 115–133.
Grazi, F., van den Bergh, J. C. J. M. (2008). Spatial organization, transport, and climate
change: Comparing instruments of spatial planning and policy, Ecological Economics,
Volume 67, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 630-639, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.01.014.
Greene D. L., Schafer A. (2003). Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from U.S
transportation, Arlington, VA, Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
Grewal, S. S., Cheng, Z., Masih, S., Wolboldt, M., Huda, N., Knight, A., Grewal, P. S.
(2011) An assessment of soil nematode food webs and nutrient pools in community
gardens and vacant lands in two post-industrial American cities. Urban Ecosyst. 14,
181–194.
Haddad, B. (2005). Ranking the adaptive capacity of nations to climate change
when socio political goals are explicit. Global Environmental Change, 15(2), 165–176.
Hall, P. (1993). Forces shaping urban Europe. Urban Studies, 30(6), 883–898.
Hodgson, K., Campbell, M. C., Bailkey, M. (2011) Urban Agriculture: Growing Healthy,
Sustainable Places; American Planning Association: Chicago, IL, USA.
Hope, D., Gries, C., Zhu, W., Fagan, W. F., Redman, C. L., Grimm, N. B., Kinzig, A.
(2003). Socioeconomics drive urban plant diversity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 100,
8788–8792.
IEA (2006). Energy technology perspectives: Scenario and strategies to 2050, International
Energy Agency, IEA, Paris.
Ifatimehin, O. O. (2007). An Assessment of Urban Heat Island of Lokoja Town and
Surroundings Using Landsat ETM Data. FUTY Journal of the Environment, 2(1), 100-108.
IPCC (2001) Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis D. L. Albritton, et al. (Eds.),
Cambridge University Press, New York (2001).
IPCC (2014). Climate change 2014: Impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Part A: Global
and sectoral aspects. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Contribution of
working group II to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on
climate change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jakle, J. A., Wilson, D. (1992) Derelict Landscapes: The Wasting of America’s Built
Environment; Rowman & Littlefield: Savage, MD, USA.
Jehlík, V. (1986) The Vegetation of Railways in Northern Bohemia (Eastern Part);
Academia: Praha, Czech Republic.
Kalnay, E & Cai, M. (2003). Impact of Urbanization and Land Use change on Climate.
Nature, 423, 528-531. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature016 75
Kamvasinou, K. (2011) The public value of urban vacant land. Proc. ICE Munic. Eng.
2011, 164, 157–166.
Kim, G. (2016) The Public Value of Urban Vacant Land: Social Responses and Ecological
Value. Sustainability 2016, 8(5), 486. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8050486.
Kim, G., Miller, P. A., Nowak, D. J. (2015). Assessing urban vacant land ecosystem
services: Urban vacant land as green infrastructure in the City of Roanoke, Virginia.
Urban For. Urban Green. 14, 519–526.
Kim, G., Miller, P. A., Nowak, D. J. (2016) The value of green infrastructure on vacant and
residential land in Roanoke, Virginia. Sustainability, 8, 296.
Kim, G., Miller, P.A., Nowak, D. J. (2015). Assessing urban vacant land ecosystem
services: Urban vacant land as green infrastructure in the City of Roanoke, Virginia.
Urban For. Urban Green. 14, 519–526.
Klimeš, L. (1987). Succession in road bank vegetation. Folia Geobot. Phytotaxon, 22, 435–440.
Kremer, P., Hamstead, Z. A., McPhearson, T. A (2013). Social-ecological assessment of
vacant lots in New York City. Landsc. Urban Plan. 2013,120, 218–233.
Lawson, L. J. (2005). City Bountiful: A Century of Community Gardening in America;
University of California Press: Berkeley, CA, USA.
Lennon, M., & Scott, M. (2014). Delivering ecosystems services via spatial planning:
Reviewing the possibilities and implications of a green infrastructure approach. Town
Planning Review, 85(5), 563–587.
Little, G. M. (2008). 629 Main Street—A Revisioning of an Urban Void: An Exploration
into Challenging Cultural Perceptions of an Urban Vacant Lot; The University of
Manitoba: Manitoba, Canada, 2008.
Lynch, K. (1995) The openness of open space. In City sense and city design: Writings and
projects of Kevin Lynch; Banerjee, T., Southworth, M., Eds.; The MIT Press:
Cambridge, MA, USA, 1995; pp. 396–412.
Martinez-Fernandez, C., Audirac, I., Fol, S., & Cunningham-Sabot, E. (2012). Shrinking
cities: Urban challenges of globalization. International Journal of Urban and
Regional Research, 36(2), 213–225.
McKinsey and Company (2016). Urban World: Meeting the Demographic Challenge.
McKinsey and Company.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. (2003). Ecosystems and Human Well-Being:
Synthesis. World Health; Island Press: Washington, DC, USA, 2003.
Németh, J., Langhorst, J. (2014). Rethinking urban transformation: Temporary uses for
vacant land. Cities, 40, 143–150.
Neukrug, H. M. (2009). Clean Water, Green City: Blending Interests of Land and Water;
Office of Watersheds: Philadelphia, PA, USA, 2009.
Newman P., Kenworthy J. (1999) Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile
Dependence, Island Press, Washington, D.C.
Nowak, D. J., Crane, D. E., Dwyer, J. F. (2002). Compensatory value of urban trees in the
United States. J. Arboric., 28, 194–199
Pagano, M. A., Bowman, A. O. M. (2000) Vacant Land in Cities: An Urban Resource;
Brookings Institution, Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy: Washington, DC,
USA, 2000.
Pike, A., MacKinnon, D., Coombes, M., Champion, T., Bradley, D., Cumbers, A., Wymer,
C. (2016). Uneven growth: Tackling city decline. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Robinson, S. L., Lundholm, J. T. (2012) Ecosystem services provided by urban
spontaneous vegetation. Urban Ecosyst. 15, 545–557.
Rogner H. H. (1997). An assessment of world hydrocarbon resources. Annual Review of
Energy and Environment, 22 (1997), pp. 217-262.
Rosa, E. A., York, R., and Dietz, T. (2004). Tracking the Antropogenic Drivers of
Ecological Impacts. Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment, Volume 33(8):
509-512.
Rosenthal, J. K., Crauderueff, R., Carter, M. (2008). Urban Heat Island Mitigation Can
Improve New York City’s Environment; Sustainable South Bronx: New York, NY,
USA, 2008.
Ruth, M., & Coelho, D. (2007). Understanding and managing the complexity of urban
systems under climate change. Climate Policy, 7(4), 317–336.
Sackey, A. N. A. (2008). Environmental Impacts of Rapid Urbanization of Ethiopia’s Cities
in M. P. van Dijk and J. Fransen (eds) Managing Ethiopian Cities in an Era of Rapid
Urbanization. Eburon Delft. Pp. 119-131
Sassen, S. (2001). The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press.
Schilling, J. M., Mallach, A. (2012). Cities in Transition: A Guide for Practicing Planners;
American Planning Association: Washington, DC, USA.
Schilling, J., & Logan, J. (2008). Greening the rust belt: A green infrastructure model for
right sizing America’s shrinking cities. Journal of the American Planning Association,
74(4), 451–466.
Shah, A. (2015) Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares? Available online:
http://www.globalissues.org/article/170/why-is-biodiversity-important-who-cares.
(accessed on 12 September 2015).
Shuster, W. D., Dadio, S., Drohan, P., Losco, R., Shaffer, J. (2014) Residential demolition
and its impact on vacant lot hydrology: Implications for the management of
stormwater and sewer system overflows. Landsc. Urban Plan., 125, 48–59.
Smit, B., & Wandel, J. (2006). Adaptation, adaptive capacity, and vulnerability. Global
Environmental Change, 16, 282–292.
Storch, H., & Downes, N. (2011). A scenario-based approach to assess Ho Chi Minh City’s
urban development strategies against the impact of climate change. Cities, 28, 517–526.
Sukopp, H., Blume, H. P., Kunick, W. (1979) The soil, flora, and vegetation of Berlin’s
waste lands. In Nature in Cities: The Natural Environment in the Design and
Development of Urban Green Space; Wiley: New Jersy, NY, USA, 1979; pp. 115–132.
Sun, Z., Li, X., Fu, W., Li, Y., & Tang, D. (2013). Long-term effects of land use/land cover
change on surface runoff in urban areas of Beijing, China. Journal of Applied Remote
Sensing, 8(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.JRS.8.084596.
Swart, R., Fons, J., Geertsema, W., van Hove, B., Gregor, M., Havranek, M., … Peltonen,
L. (2012). Urban vulnerability indicators: A joint report of ETC-CCA and ETC-SIA.
http://cca.eionet.europa.eu/docs/TP_3-2012 (accessed on 24 November 2017).
The Greening of Detroit. Urban Agriculture and Open Space. (2012). Available online:
http://detroitagriculture.met/open-space-stories/ (accessed on 7 May 2016).
Tong, S., Sun, Y., Ranatunga, T., He, J., & Yang, Y. (2012). Predicting plausible impacts
of sets of climate and land use change scenarios on water resources. Applied
Geography, 32, 477–489.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2009). Revitalizing Foreclosed
Properties with Land Banks; Diane Publishing: Collingdale, PA, USA.
UNCHS (1996). An Urbanizing World. World Global Report on Human Settlements.
Oxford University Press, New York.
Wachter, S., Scruggs, G., Voith, R., Huang, L. (2010). Redevelopment Authority of the City
of Philadelphia Land Use and Policy Study; Penn Institute for Urban Research,
Econsult Corporation: Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Weng, Q. (2001). A Remote Sensing-GIS Evaluation of Urban Expansion and Its Impact
on Surface Temperature in the Zhujiang Delta, China, International J. Remote sensing,
22(10), 1999-2014.
Wubet, M. T. (2003). Estimation of Absolute Surface Temperature by Satellite Remote
Sensing, Unpublished M. Sc Thesis, International Institute for Geoinformation
Science and Earth Observation, Netherlands
Yadav, P., Duckworth, K., Grewal, P. S. (2012). Habitat structure influences below ground
biocontrol services: A comparison between urban gardens and vacant lands. Landsc.
Urban Plan. 104, 238–244.
Yohe, G., & Tol, R. (2002). Indicators for social and economic coping capacity: Moving
towards a working definition of adaptive capacity. Global Environmental Change,
12(1), 25–40.
Zhau, S, Da, L, Tang, Z, Fang, H, Song, K & Fang, J. (2006). Ecological Consequences of
Rapid Urban Expansion: Shanghai, China Frontiers in Ecological Environ; The
Ecological Society of America, 4(7), 341-346.

Category:

Publish with Nova Science Publishers

We publish over 800 titles annually by leading researchers from around the world. Submit a Book Proposal Now!