Urban parks are important elements of city green infrastructure. Many studies highlight their positive influence on the quality of life and human well-being as well as their significance for sustaining natural processes in built-up areas. For the last decade, much has been written about urban ecosystem services (ES), however in comparison with the abundance of studies on the potential for delivering ecosystem services by different land use and land cover types, research on the capacity of parks to deliver these services depending on site-specific elements, is relatively uncommon. Thus, this paper reports on research that explored levels of local regulating and cultural ecosystem services delivered by Warsaw parks, as these services are considered as the most important for urban dwellers. The authors based the study on data included in existing policy documents related to environmental and spatial planning for Warsaw, and evaluation of Warsaw green spaces. The assessment included 10 ecosystem services: micro-climate regulation, air quality regulation, noise reduction, balancing rainwater peaks, recreation, social inclusion, physical health benefits, nature experiences, aesthetic appreciation, and sense of identity. The assessment was performed for all Warsaw public parks, covering an area over 2 ha (n = 82). The results enabled us: (1) to assess all parks with respect to their actual impact in delivering 10 studied ecosystem services; (2) to designate their potential capacity to deliver regulating and cultural services; and (3) to allocate all assessed parks into categories that represent their predominant character (multifunctional, with cultural advantage, with regulating advantage or without any predominant function).

Modern society is fascinated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), physical laziness, isolation from nature, and a preference for staying indoors. Despite the general acceptance and understanding of the health benefits of recreation in the open air, a change is being seen in the recreational patterns of urban dwellers, as they spend less time outdoors. In order to counteract such behaviours, we can try to apply ICTs to enhance time spent outdoors. The performed study aimed to find uses of ICT solutions in designing public spaces in order to enhance and promote a healthy lifestyle. The selected examples show possible applications of ICT in promoting active recreation, e.g. mobile applications for sport activities, urban games in line with the idea of the Playable City, and urban furniture and outdoor hotspots enabling access to the Internet. The research findings proved that digitisation is not only a threat to a healthy lifestyle, but that it can also create opportunities to improve the quality of life.

Underground Built Heritage (UBH) is a distinct class of cultural heritage providing a focal point for community pride and engagement to become a springboard for local sustainable development (LSD). This research aims to articulate how local UBH and its fringe serve as a facilitator of communal identity to mobilize community care towards social and economic development with less involvement from the state and the market actors. For this purpose, local (and less-conspicuous) cases of UBH are employed in Warsaw, Poland, and Volos, Greece, indicating the power of UBH to connect and engage local communities with places, triggering a momentum for a truly bottom-up action that pays less attention to market considerations and state support. The studied UBH sites have been discussed according to an established common framework, dealing with five main issues: (a) general context and status, (b) history, (c) users and management, (d) ecosystem services, and (e) introduction of the paradigm of living labs. The analysis was based on a thorough literature review and complemented by field observations and interviews. The results provide evidence for UBH as a potential facilitator of social and economic development. The case studies in Poland and Greece showed that local actors were involved in activities and social networks of tacit knowledge, generating community building to reinforce bottom-up activities in contact with UBH.

Eco-spatial indices are commonly used tools to improve the quality of the environment in cities. Initially modelled on the Berlin BAF, indices have evolved to address current challenges, particularly climate change adaptation. The Ratio of Biologically Vital Areas (RBVA), introduced in Poland in the mid-1990s, is an early planning tool for implementing Nature-based Solutions (NbSs) at the site level. This research aimed to assess the effectiveness of the RBVA in Poland compared to its counterparts in Oslo and Malmö. The study employed a serious simulation game developed under the Norwegian-funded CoAdapt project, testing six development scenarios, varied in terms of applied NbSs, for a typical multi-family housing estate. The adaptive potential of the tested scenarios was assessed based on the values of five environmental parameters calculated in the game; that is, air temperature, oxygen production, CO₂ sequestration, rainwater harvesting, and biodiversity. The findings revealed that the RBVA, in its current form, has limited effectiveness in supporting climate adaptation. Its two-dimensional nature makes it less effective than the more comprehensive Green Factors used in Oslo and Malmö. The research presented in the article proves that better-constructed indices result in the efficiency of applied NbSs and consequently better adaptation to climate change.

Głównym celem badań była ocena dostępności naturalnych terenów zieleni (NTZ) w poszczególnych dzielnicach Warszawy. Dostępność ta była badana pod względem ilościowym dla dwóch wskaźników: udziału NTZ na jednego mieszkańca oraz zasięgu obsługi terenów mieszkaniowych przez NTZ. W badaniach wykorzystano metodykę badania dostępności zastosowaną w brytyjskim standardzie dostępnych naturalnych terenów zieleni (Accessible Natural Greenspace Standard - ANGSt). Zasięg obsługi terenów mieszkaniowych przez NTZ został obliczony jako pochodna ich wielkości i ich odległości od terenów mieszkaniowych. Zgodnie z zasadami określonymi w ANGSt każdy mieszkaniec powinien mieć dostęp do NTZ o różnej wielkości (od 2 ha do 500 ha), położonych w promieniu między 300 m a 10 km od miejsca zamieszkania. Przeprowadzone badania wykazały, że pomimo dużego udziału NTZ w granicach Warszawy (24,7% ogólnej powierzchni miasta) dostęp do nich oraz wskaźnik 2 ha NTZ na 1000 mieszkańców w poszczególnych dzielnicach Warszawy jest ograniczony ze względu na nierównomierne ich rozmieszczenie w strukturze miasta. W sumie około 60% terenów mieszkaniowych w mieście nie ma dostępu do NTZ o powierzchni ponad 2 ha, położonych w odległości do 300 m.

Transport areas in urban environments typically cover 10–20% of a city’s area. Due to their hierarchical structure and network layout, they present a unique opportunity to integrate Nature-based Solutions (NbSs) within cities strategically. In Poland, however, the current use of NbSs in streetscapes tends to be sporadic, localized, and often resulting from grassroots initiatives. This study aimed to assess how much the provision of ecosystem services (ESs) in cities depends on and can be enhanced by NbSs. To explore this, simulations were conducted using six NbSs scenarios, selected based on an analysis of solutions specifically designed for streets and their characteristics. This research focused on a densely built and populated district of Warsaw. The findings revealed that applying NbSs can significantly reduce stormwater runoff, increase carbon sequestration, and improve air quality. The level of ES provision depends on the solutions used, with the introduction of woody vegetation, particularly tall shrubs and trees, proving most effective. The results show that the scenario-based approach allows for flexible streetscape design, enabling the application of individually selected NbSs. Moreover, the approach helps to select optimal elements that enhance the provision of ES crucial to adapting cities to climate change.