Abstract
Urbanization is vital to economic growth but has led to fragmented natural habitats and increased greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants, resulting in biodiversity loss, environmental pollution, and climate change, all of which compromise the well-being of urban residents. Urban vegetation—i.e., the planting of trees and provision of parks and green spaces—can help address these challenges by drawing down greenhouse gases, filtering out pollutants, soaking up stormwaters, and providing shade during hot days. However, the benefits of greening urban spaces are not equal everywhere and can depend heavily on local climates and economic status. If city planners fail to consider the limitations and context-specific benefits of urban vegetation, city greening schemes, which are often costly, will likely fail to realize their full potential. To help guide city decision makers, we analyzed the potential benefits of urban vegetation for 2,148 cities around the world. Although urban vegetation commonly benefits the well-being of urban residents in terms of access to green spaces and stormwater control, other benefits were only significant in cities with certain climates and socio-economic status.
Keywords
air quality, coastal defence, green spaces, nature-based solutions, nature's contributions to people, outdoor recreation, shade provision, Sustainability, urban ecology