Urban planning and governance

Hot stops, cool looks: Aesthetic solutions for thermal comfort at transit stops

Increased urban heat intensifies thermal discomfort, particularly in critical public spaces such as transit stops. This study investigated the predictors of transit users’ thermal perceptions in Denver, Colorado—a semi-arid city. Sixty bus stops spanning a gradient of land cover compositions were selected for study. Micrometeorological data, including thermal comfort indices, were collected alongside survey responses […]

Hot stops, cool looks: Aesthetic solutions for thermal comfort at transit stops Read More »

Pathways towards equity: Solutions-focused workshops with urban greening professionals

Urban green governance refers to the complex network of actors working across sectors to manage urban vegetation. While recent research has identified barriers to addressing green space inequities, there has been much less focus on how these barriers interact as self-reinforcing systems or on potential solutions. This study explores how urban greening professionals understand and

Pathways towards equity: Solutions-focused workshops with urban greening professionals Read More »

Urban tree cover targets: The good, the bad and the SMART

Urban tree cover (UTC) is a commonly used metric in policy and management activities, including urban forest resources assessment, equity and distribution, and ecosystem services modelling. Despite the well-established benefits associated with urban tree canopy, declining tree cover has catalysed many cities into setting UTC targets. In this short communication, we used an assessment of

Urban tree cover targets: The good, the bad and the SMART Read More »

The relative importance of greening in attracting gentrifiers to urban Vancouver and suburban Calgary neighbourhoods

Green gentrification describes how greening neighbourhoods (e.g. by creating parks, community gardens, etc.) can result in higher-income households moving in and displacing/excluding marginalised residents. While some researchers assert that greening attracts higher-income households, this has rarely been empirically tested. Further, green gentrification research has focussed almost exclusively on greening attracting households to urban neighbourhoods, despite

The relative importance of greening in attracting gentrifiers to urban Vancouver and suburban Calgary neighbourhoods Read More »

One tree matters: reflections on data as a design material in urban forestry

This exploratory study explores the potential contexts and opportunities for emerging visual data in urban forest design. Forestry experts deploy drone-mounted digital sensors to capture detailed visual and spatial data urban vegetation. These sensors generate point clouds that not only inform ecological analysis but also visually construct urban environments from a pedestrian perspective. Even though

One tree matters: reflections on data as a design material in urban forestry Read More »

Sustainability gentrification and implications for health

This chapter aims to present the current scientific findings concerning the potential associations between sustainability gentrification and population health. To do so, this chapter starts by describing the related and sub-types of eco-, ecological, environmental, resilience, climate, green, and green climate gentrification. Then, delves into examining the prevalence of sustainability gentrification within and between municipalities,

Sustainability gentrification and implications for health Read More »

What is equitable urban forest governance? A systematic literature review

Urban forest governance comprises the formal and informal rules, institutions, and processes that influence collective decision-making in urban forest management. As such, it shapes key processes and outcomes that are implicated in urban environmental justice, including whose priorities and values are reflected in urban forest management and how and where urban trees are distributed. However,

What is equitable urban forest governance? A systematic literature review Read More »

Equity, travel, and park visitation in 10 US metro areas: A smartphone mobility study

Urban planners and urban forestry researchers use various methods to evaluate how well different populations access the benefits of parks, often by assessing park distribution in relation to the social and economic conditions of surrounding neighbourhoods. However, without precise visitation data, it remains unclear whether proximity to parks translates into actual use. This study analyses

Equity, travel, and park visitation in 10 US metro areas: A smartphone mobility study Read More »

How common is greening in gentrifying areas?

Green gentrification occurs when urban greening/sustainability interventions become implicated in neighbourhood upgrading and displacement of existing residents. However, current emphasis on urban sustainability in planning/policy agendas, coupled with political-economic factors producing uneven development, lead us to ask whether all gentrifying areas experience greening. Our descriptive analysis identified gentrifying areas in Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto (Canada),

How common is greening in gentrifying areas? Read More »

Comparison of Canadian urban forest perceptions indicates variations in beliefs and trust across geographic settings

Urban forests are characterized by relationships between people and trees, where urban trees provide benefits to people and people make decisions impacting trees. People’s perceptions of urban forests are related to the cognitive processes that underpin benefits received from trees, while also influencing support for or against trees and their management. A growing literature has

Comparison of Canadian urban forest perceptions indicates variations in beliefs and trust across geographic settings Read More »

Start typing and press enter to search

Skip to content