Urban parks serve as essential carbon sinks in cities, mitigating climate change by sequestering atmospheric CO₂. Maximizing the carbon sequestration potential within constrained urban spaces is a critical step toward carbon neutrality. However, few studies have systematically examined how the internal spatial composition and shape of green spaces affect their vegetation carbon sequestration capacity. This study analyzes the relationship between landscape indices and vegetation carbon sequestration density (VCSD) using field surveys and high-resolution remote sensing data from 123 urban parks in Zhengzhou, China. The results indicate that Zhengzhou’s parks sequester 14.03 Gg C yr⁻¹, with a VCSD of 0.53 kg C m⁻² yr⁻¹. Significant differences in VCSD were observed among park types, with theme parks having the highest average VCSD (0.69 kg C m⁻² yr⁻¹) and community parks the lowest (0.43 kg C m⁻² yr⁻¹). The key drivers primarily consist of landscape indices that characterize green space distribution and configuration, including the proportion of green space (Pg), largest green patch index (LPI), number of green patches (NP), green patch dispersion index (SPL), and landscape shape index (LSI), with specific thresholds identified for each. Based on these findings, category-specific spatial composition strategies are proposed to precisely enhance the carbon sequestration of park vegetation. This study provides actionable guidance for urban park designers to maximize the carbon sequestration potential of green spaces, thereby mitigating climate change and promoting human health and well-being through green space design.

Despite the growing quantity of ecosystem-services-related research, there is still a lack of deeper understanding on cultural ecosystem services (CES). This is mainly due to the perception of CES, which can vary by geographic location and population. In this study, we present a Public Participation Geographic Information System (PPGIS) method in a Hungarian microregion. Our goal is to increase understanding on how cultural services are perceived in this geographical context and level, and how this relative importance is related to biophysical landscape features. We also consider the influence of accessibility on the perceived landscape and compare our findings with the results of other studies with different sociocultural backgrounds. The research consists of participatory mapping with 184 persons that were digitized and analyzed with GIS and statistical software. During the analysis, we identified CES hotspots and compared CES with landscape features, as well as CES perception with accessibility. Our results showed positive correlation of CES with land covers related to built-up areas, as well as aesthetic and recreational services with water bodies. Compared to other studies, we found different spatial relationships in the case of spiritual services, and higher importance of agricultural land covers during the CES perception, thanks to the Central-Eastern European (CEE) sociocultural background. Our study highlights the effect of accessibility on CES perception; nevertheless, these relationships varied by different infrastructural elements. We conclude by discussing the implications and limitations of our study and encouraging future landscape research to apply the PPGIS method in this geographical context.

Urban Green Space Per Capita (UGSPC) is one of the oldest and most widely applied indicators in urban planning, providing a measure of green areas in relation to the population size. Despite its century-long application and decades of research, no global systematic review has previously synthesized how UGSPC has been applied, interpreted, and evolved across different contexts. This study aims to fill that gap by conducting the first comprehensive systematic review, following PRISMA guidelines, examining the usage, trends, and effectiveness of UGSPC in both developed and developing countries. Thematic analysis revealed that most studies were published in journals focused on sustainability and environmental science. The results show a surge in publications following the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting a growing recognition of the importance of urban green spaces for public health and livability. Moreover, 67% of the studies were conducted in developing countries, while 30% of the publications were in developed countries. Higher UGSPC values are generally found in developed cities; however, this was not a rule. Time series studies showed a decline in UGSPC in some developed and developing countries, influenced by factors such as population density, urbanization stage, climate, and economic conditions. Although UGSPC is widely used, most municipalities typically develop their plans based on this measurement. In total, 95% of the included research incorporated additional measurements, including accessibility, social equity, spatial patterns, ecological services, ecosystem benefits, and human health. This study suggests that UGSPC is still used as an indicator in urban planning and policy and integrating it with other indicators can serve as contemporary indicators to capture better equity, functionality, and sustainability in urban environments.

Extreme heat wave weather phenomena have erupted worldwide in recent years. The urban heat island (UHI) effect has exacerbated urban heat waves with serious consequences for urban energy and residents’ health. Therefore, a better understanding of the dynamics of the UHI effect and the influencing factors is needed in the context of carbon neutrality and global warming. This study used long-term observation and statistical data to investigate the urban heat island intensity (UHII) over the past 39 years (1981–2019) and to analyze the temporal changes of the UHI effect and the relationship between the UHI effect and indicators of rapid urbanization in Zhengzhou, China. The results showed that Zhengzhou is warming 2.2-times faster than the global land warming trend of about +0.9 °C from 1981 to 2019. There is a clear phase characteristic of the heat island effect in Zhengzhou, and it offers a rapid upward trend after 2000 and a positive correlation with the urbanization process; it was found that the social and economic conditions of urban expansion in Zhengzhou have a significant relationship with UHII. We also found that the denser the urban built-up area, the more obvious the heat island effect. Compared with other countries, the influence of national policies on urban development is an indirect factor influencing the change of UHI specifically for Chinese cities. This research could provide a reference for understanding the temporal dynamics of UHI in an expanding large city for sustainable urban planning and mitigating urban warming and environmental problems.

Urban green spaces (UGS) provide numerous benefits, but challenges in availability and accessibility often limit their full potential. This study assesses equity and disparities in car-based accessibility to Large Urban Green Spaces (LUGS > 8 ha) in the rapidly growing cities of Sulaimaniyah and Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Road network accessibility was analyzed using OpenRouteService (ORS) and calibrated with real-time Google Maps data to improve accuracy. Google Earth Engine (GEE) was used for NDVI-based vegetation mapping and LUGS quality assessment. Isochrones based on 5, 10, and 15 min from LUGS entrances were generated to measure served areas and population coverage at citywide and zonal levels. The findings reveal notable spatial inequities in both cities, with disparities especially evident at shorter travel times. Accessibility declines from central to outer zones. Azadi Park and Sami Abdulrahman Park emerged as key service hubs. The number of LUGS active entrances, spatial distribution, and population density are among the key determinants of car accessibility to LUGS. The study highlighted the spatial-temporal suggestion for long- and short-term implementation, with opportunities for enhancement.

This research uses the ”Green Space Intensity” (GSI) index to describe the changes of green space within Újbuda, Budapest’s 11th district, from 1992 to 2023. The GSI index is based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) generated from satellites, but the values have been revised and adjusted to high-resolution orthoimagery and validated by VHR satellite images. The index has been developed over the last two decades, is well known and has been used in the last ten years in research to analyse green spaces within the towns and cities of Hungary. Analysis of green space changes provides reasonable decision-support in urban planning and city development. It helps to define the drivers of change and the effects of changes on the urban climate, paved and built-up areas, the urban habitat of wildlife species and the role of endemic, invasive and ornamental plant species in the city’s green infrastructure. From an urban ecology perspective, this research supports better and more sustainable planning and design solutions. In the 11th district of Budapest, called Újbuda or “New Buda”, using the available Landsat and Sentinel satellite images, we examined changes over three decades. During the first part of the three decades, the increase in green space intensity was more due to the abandonment of former uses and due to the increase in “block of flat” socialist type residential areas built before the 1990s. Meanwhile, several greenfield investment projects resulted in a decrease. For the period after 2015 the decrease in GSI was due to development on abandoned or areas of low land-use intensity, while increases were predominantly associated with the greening and landscaping phase of previous constructions.