Building Greener Cities Together: Urban Afforestation Requires Multiple Skills to Address Social, Ecological, and Climate Challenges

Resemini, Raffaello; Geroldi, Chiara; Capotorti, Giulia; De Toni, Andrea; Parisi, Francesco; De Sanctis, Michele; Cabai, Thomas; Rossini, Micol; Vignali, Luigi; Poli, Matteo Umberto; Lo Piccolo, Ermes; Mariotti, Barbara; Arcidiacono, Andrea; Biella, Paolo; Alghisi, Erica; Bani, Luciano; Bertini, Massino; Blasi, Carlo; Buffi, Francesca; Caprio, Enrico; Castiglione, Stefano; Digiovinazzo, Patrizia; Dondina, Olivia; Fanelli, Giuliano; Ferrini, Francesco; Fiorilli, Valentina; Gaiani, Gianluca; Gambino, Daniela; Genre, Andrea; Lasserre, Bruno; Maltoni, Alberto; Marchetti, Marco; Montagnani, Chiara; Ottaviano, Marco; Panigada, Cinzia; Ronchi, Silvia; Salata, Stefano; Salbitano, Fabio; Simoni, Enrico; Versace, Soraya; Pastore, Maria Chiara; Citterio, Sandra; Labra, Massimo; Gentili, Rodolfo

doi:10.3390/plants14030404

This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.

Open AccessPerspective

Building Greener Cities Together: Urban Afforestation Requires Multiple Skills to Address Social, Ecological, and Climate Challenges

by

Raffaello Resemini

^1,*,†,

Chiara Geroldi

^2,†,

Giulia Capotorti

³

,

Andrea De Toni

^2,†

,

Francesco Parisi

^4,†

,

Michele De Sanctis

³

,

Thomas Cabai

²

,

Micol Rossini

^1,†

,

Luigi Vignali

^1,†

,

Matteo Umberto Poli

^2,†,

Ermes Lo Piccolo

^5,†,

Barbara Mariotti

^5,†

,

Andrea Arcidiacono

^2,†

,

Paolo Biella

⁶

,

Erica Alghisi

^7,†,

Luciano Bani

^1,†

,

Massino Bertini

^7,†,

Carlo Blasi

⁸,

Francesca Buffi

^3,†,

Enrico Caprio

^9,†

,

Stefano Castiglione

^10,†

,

Patrizia Digiovinazzo

¹,

Olivia Dondina

^1,†

,

Giuliano Fanelli

^3,†,

Francesco Ferrini

^5,†

,

Valentina Fiorilli

^9,†

,

Gianluca Gaiani

^7,†,

Daniela Gambino

²,

Andrea Genre

^9,†,

Bruno Lasserre

^4,†

,

Alberto Maltoni

^5,†

,

Marco Marchetti

¹¹

,

Chiara Montagnani

^1,†

,

Marco Ottaviano

^4,†

,

Cinzia Panigada

^1,12,

Silvia Ronchi

^2,†

,

Stefano Salata

²

,

Fabio Salbitano

^13,†

,

Enrico Simoni

^7,†,

Soraya Versace

^4,†,

Maria Chiara Pastore

^2,†

,

Sandra Citterio

^1,†

,

Massimo Labra

^6,†

and

Rodolfo Gentili

^1,*,†

Show full author list Hide full author list

¹

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy

²

Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy

³

Department of Environmental Biology, University La Sapienza of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy

⁴

Department of Biosciences and Territory, Forestry LABs, University of Molise, 86090 Pesche, Italy

⁵

Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, 50144 Florence, Italy

⁶

Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, ZooPlantLab, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy

⁷

Ente Regionale per i Servizi all’Agricoltura e alle Foreste (ERSAF), 20124 Milan, Italy

⁸

Interuniversity Research Center “Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Sustainability” (CIRBISES), University La Sapienza of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy

⁹

Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, 10123 Torino, Italy

¹⁰

Department of Chemistry and Biology “A. Zambelli”, University of Salerno, 84084 Salerno, Italy

¹¹

Department of Architecture and Design, University of La Sapienza of Rome, 00196 Rome, Italy

¹²

Rurall S.p.A.—Rural & Urban Digital Hub, 25123 Brescia, Italy

¹³

Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy

Show full affiliation list

Hide full affiliation list

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors belong to NBFC—National Biodiversity Future Center, 90133 Palermo, Italy

Plants 2025, 14(3), 404; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14030404

Submission received: 5 December 2024 / Revised: 17 January 2025 / Accepted: 20 January 2025 / Published: 29 January 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flora and Vegetation in Cities: Basic and Applied Scientific Knowledge for Environmental Sustainability)

Download Versions Notes

Abstract

Urban afforestation is increasingly regarded as a key strategy for fostering biodiversity to restore and enhance the ecosystem services needed to counteract the effects of climate change in built-up areas. In Italy, several experimental afforestation projects have been launched as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), focusing on cities or metropolitan areas such as Milan, Rome, Pistoia and Campobasso. These projects follow a multidisciplinary approach, integrating botanists, foresters, urban planners, landscape architects and remote sensing specialists. The goal is to address the challenging complexity of urban forest restoration through reforestation and afforestation actions. Key innovations include the integration of transdisciplinary methodologies (landscape analysis, landscape design, forest and plant ecology) with the application of advanced remote sensing technologies and participatory community engagement frameworks to address ecological and social challenges. Experimental plots have been set up across various urban areas, testing a range of planting schemes to maximise climate change resilience and ensure long-term ecological sustainability. Emphasis has been placed on selecting drought-tolerant and thermophilic species that are better adapted to widespread warming and local urban heat islands. Biodiversity strips with perennial flowers for insects, shrubs with berries for birds and nests for wild bees and vertebrates have been set up to enhance biodiversity in new afforestation areas. Advanced monitoring tools, such as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and multi-sensor drones, have been employed alongside field observations to assess forest growth, species survival, structural complexity and biodiversity enhancement over time. Historical analyses of landscape patterns and ecological connectivity over the past 200 years, along with evaluations of afforestation projects from the last 70 years, have provided critical insights into the successes and challenges of previous interventions, serving as a guide for future efforts. By focusing on ecological connectivity, the integration of afforested areas into the urban matrix, and citizen engagement, the current project aims to align urban forestry efforts with sustainable development goals. This comprehensive project framework addresses environmental restoration and the social and aesthetic impacts on local communities, contributing to the overall resilience and well-being of urban and peri-urban ecosystems.

Keywords: urban afforestation; ecosystem services; biodiversity; climate change; remote sensing; ecological connectivity; urban planning; landscape design; EU Nature Restoration Law

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Resemini, R.; Geroldi, C.; Capotorti, G.; De Toni, A.; Parisi, F.; De Sanctis, M.; Cabai, T.; Rossini, M.; Vignali, L.; Poli, M.U.; et al. Building Greener Cities Together: Urban Afforestation Requires Multiple Skills to Address Social, Ecological, and Climate Challenges. Plants 2025, 14, 404. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14030404

AMA Style

Resemini R, Geroldi C, Capotorti G, De Toni A, Parisi F, De Sanctis M, Cabai T, Rossini M, Vignali L, Poli MU, et al. Building Greener Cities Together: Urban Afforestation Requires Multiple Skills to Address Social, Ecological, and Climate Challenges. Plants. 2025; 14(3):404. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14030404

Chicago/Turabian Style

Resemini, Raffaello, Chiara Geroldi, Giulia Capotorti, Andrea De Toni, Francesco Parisi, Michele De Sanctis, Thomas Cabai, Micol Rossini, Luigi Vignali, Matteo Umberto Poli, and et al. 2025. "Building Greener Cities Together: Urban Afforestation Requires Multiple Skills to Address Social, Ecological, and Climate Challenges" Plants 14, no. 3: 404. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14030404

APA Style

Resemini, R., Geroldi, C., Capotorti, G., De Toni, A., Parisi, F., De Sanctis, M., Cabai, T., Rossini, M., Vignali, L., Poli, M. U., Lo Piccolo, E., Mariotti, B., Arcidiacono, A., Biella, P., Alghisi, E., Bani, L., Bertini, M., Blasi, C., Buffi, F., ... Gentili, R. (2025). Building Greener Cities Together: Urban Afforestation Requires Multiple Skills to Address Social, Ecological, and Climate Challenges. Plants, 14(3), 404. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14030404

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Building Greener Cities Together: Urban Afforestation Requires Multiple Skills to Address Social, Ecological, and Climate Challenges

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI