Leslie Mabon
Nature can cool cities, but proceed with caution
Mabon, Leslie; Connor, Ben; Moncaster, Alice; Pearce, Catherine; Pratt, Eleanor; Shih, Wan-Yu; Tsai, Meng-Chin; Vseteckova, Jitka; Waights, Verina; Wolstenholme, Ruth
Authors
Ben Connor
Alice Moncaster Alice.Moncaster@uwe.ac.uk
Professor in Digital and Sustainable Construction
Catherine Pearce
Eleanor Pratt
Wan-Yu Shih
Meng-Chin Tsai
Jitka Vseteckova
Verina Waights
Ruth Wolstenholme
Abstract
Increased extreme heat events draw attention to the potential of urban nature as a heat adaptation strategy for cities. This is reflected in multiple scientific perspective pieces, policy documents and science media publications advocating for urban greening as a cooling approach. Although attention to the dangers of heat and the benefits of urban nature is welcomed, it is vital that nature-based approaches to cooling are underpinned by diverse knowledge and a sound understanding of what nature in cities can and cannot do. We explain why an evidence-driven and cautious approach to heat adaptation through urban greening is so important, and propose three actions that urban actors can take towards effective and equitable long-term cooling through urban nature: enabling dialogue between different sectors with multiple remits; including diverse knowledge systems in planning and governance processes; and investing in long-term stewardship for the climatological and societal conditions of the coming decades. Policy and practice recommendation • Create fora for dialogue between governments, residents, civil society and developers from planning stage for green cooling; • Cooling through nature must be driven by expertise spanning diverse knowledge systems, combined with local knowledge and community needs; • Consider future climates and stewardship when planning urban cooling via nature. Science highlights • Understanding link between urban thermal environment and nature is an inter- and transdisciplinary task; • Critical need for evidence of how greening reduces heat impacts across different social and cultural contexts; • Evidence of how species perform under future climates required for stewardship of urban nature.
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Sep 6, 2023 |
Online Publication Date | Sep 21, 2023 |
Publication Date | Sep 21, 2023 |
Deposit Date | Sep 22, 2023 |
Publicly Available Date | Sep 26, 2023 |
Journal | Urban Transformations |
Print ISSN | 2524-8162 |
Publisher | BioMed Central |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 5 |
Issue | 1 |
Article Number | 11 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/s42854-023-00057-9 |
Keywords | General Medicine |
Public URL | https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11130977 |
Additional Information | Received: 17 April 2023; Accepted: 6 September 2023; First Online: 21 September 2023; : ; : The authors have no competing interests to declare and do not stand to benefit financially or otherwise from the content of the paper. |
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Nature can cool cities, but proceed with caution
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Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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