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Land
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Ecosystem Services of Rural Landscapes and Green Infrastructures
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Ecosystem Services of Rural Landscapes and Green Infrastructures

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 13687

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Giulio Senes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: land use planning; landscape and green areas design; greenways planning and design; green infrastructures and human wellbeing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Natalia Fumagalli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: green infrastructures for rural areas: planning, design, and management; landscape planning and design; healing gardens, horticultural therapy, and health landscape; sustainable urban green spaces
Dr. Alexandra Jiricka-Pürrer

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Landscape Development, Recreation and Conservation Planning, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Peter-Jordan Street 82, A-1190 Vienna, Austria
Interests: environmental planning; human–nature relationship; climate change adaptation and mitigation; sustainable tourism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Rural landscapes are present everywhere and have very diversified characteristics: peri-urban landscapes that bring nature into the city and agricultural, natural, and forest landscapes.

Rural landscapes are a key component of green infrastructures, networks of natural and semi-natural areas in both rural and urban settings made up of a wide range of different environmental features which operate at different scales, from small linear features such as hedgerows or green roofs to entire functional ecosystems.

Rural landscapes and green infrastructures perform different functions and are bearers of a diverse range of values while delivering a wide range of ecosystem services: provision of food, water, raw materials, etc.; regulation of soil, water, and air; provision and regulation of habitats; provision of aesthetic and cultural values; recreation and tourism (the so-called “cultural services”). All the ecosystem services are fundamental for human wellbeing. Particularly, in the light of climate change, green infrastructure and nature-based solutions are essential to cope with negative impacts, ameliorate the adaptation capacity (relevant particularly for provisioning and regulation capacities) and, at the same time, contribute to additional targets such as climate change mitigation. Safeguarding biodiversity and the climate regulation capacity of green infrastructure (GI) are also key targets set by the European Commission (EC 2013a), among others.

Assessment and evaluation of the ecosystem services of rural landscapes and green infrastructures are key factors for a better understanding of the complexity of the interrelationships and, therefore, for more sustainable land-use and urban planning, design, and landscape governance and management. This complexity often requires multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. Particularly, in (more) intensively used agrarian areas, strategic enhancement of green infrastructure is urgently needed to enable its full potential.

We invite academics and researchers to submit both original research and review papers focusing on, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • rural landscape ecosystem services assessment;
  • rural landscape evaluation;
  • ecosystem services assessment of natural and green areas in rural and urban areas;
  • green infrastructures for sustainable stormwater management, prevention and minimization of flooding and erosion
  • green infrastructures and land take reduction for a sustainable land-use planning enhancing and preserving biodiversity;
  • green infrastructures and greenways for sustainable tourism;
  • nature based solutions and green areas for climate regulation and human wellbeing;
  • natural areas, rural landscapes, and human wellbeing.

Prof. Dr. Giulio Senes
Prof. Dr. Natalia Fumagalli
Dr. Alexandra Jiricka-Pürrer
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • rural landscape
  • ecosystem services
  • green infrastructures
  • greenways
  • sustainable land-use planning
  • landscape assessment
  • nature based solutions
  • urban green areas
  • nature and human wellbeing.

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 6864 KiB  
Article
Soft Mobility Network for the Enhancement and Discovery of the Rural Landscape: Definition of a Masterplan for Alto Ferrarese (Italy)
by Giulio Senes, Chiara Parretta, Natalia Fumagalli, Patrizia Tassinari and Daniele Torreggiani
Land 2023, 12(3), 527; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12030527 - 22 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1749
Abstract
The rural landscape can provide a wide range of cultural ecosystem services to humans through direct and in situ interactions. The benefits provided depend on the quality of the landscape, but also on the real possibility for people to access and enjoy it. [...] Read more.
The rural landscape can provide a wide range of cultural ecosystem services to humans through direct and in situ interactions. The benefits provided depend on the quality of the landscape, but also on the real possibility for people to access and enjoy it. One of the best ways is to do it in a “slow” way, namely active and non-motorized, through a soft mobility network. The goals of the study are: (i) to develop a methodology to plan a soft mobility network that enhances existing infrastructures and maximizes the cultural ecosystem services provided by rural landscapes; (ii) to validate the methodology in the Alto Ferrarese territory through defining a soft mobility masterplan at the supra-municipal scale. The method is made up of three phases: analysis, with the inventory of the resources to be connected and the paths that could potentially be used; assessment, with the evaluation of the suitability of the paths to realize the soft mobility network; and planning, with the definition of the masterplan for the study area. The application resulted in a proposed network of 525.2 km, hierarchized in a primary and a secondary network, and proved that the methodology is effective to maximize the use of existing paths (81% of the proposed network), and to connect the elements of interest (98.5% of the resources are within a distance of 500 m, and 86.4% within a distance of 100 m). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem Services of Rural Landscapes and Green Infrastructures)
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7 pages, 218 KiB  
Communication
Historic and Contemporary Gardens: A Humanistic Approach to Evaluate Their Role in Enhancing Cultural, Natural and Social Heritage
by Marianna Olivadese and Maria Luisa Dindo
Land 2022, 11(12), 2214; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11122214 - 6 Dec 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2257
Abstract
With the achievement of a certain degree of civilization, human beings show the need to build gardens, where the concept of nature and culture perfectly coincide in an original unicum seen in eternal evolution and in which history is fully embraced. Retracing the [...] Read more.
With the achievement of a certain degree of civilization, human beings show the need to build gardens, where the concept of nature and culture perfectly coincide in an original unicum seen in eternal evolution and in which history is fully embraced. Retracing the changing events of a garden is fascinating and inviting, and at the same time, it is deeply linked to reflecting on the civil and cultural history of a place where nature and art forge a deep bond. Deeply related to events, achievements, myths, art, culture and sensitivity, not to mention the history of taste and aesthetics, gardens are the reflection of society and individuals. Each garden provides information on the ideal sense of happiness and the utopia of those who created it, as well as of the society that developed it. Within a contemporary context in which they are certainly extremely fragile and subject to deterioration, historic gardens must face different users and, in a way, identities. They are open-air works of art where history, botanical taste, plant defense and biodiversity are intertwined with the beauty of the landscape, hence representing a great contemporary challenge to be faced in a multidisciplinary way. Both historic and contemporary gardens provide a wide range of ecosystem services, including cultural ones, especially in city contexts. The knowledge, care and conservation of the former, and the correct implementation and maintenance of the latter, thus become fundamental actions that may highly involve the population and raise awareness of ecologically significant values, as modernity must support the enhancement of the “landscape system”. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem Services of Rural Landscapes and Green Infrastructures)
13 pages, 5701 KiB  
Article
Developing a 3D City Digital Twin: Enhancing Walkability through a Green Pedestrian Network (GPN) in the City of Imola, Italy
by Mansoureh Gholami, Daniele Torreggiani, Patrizia Tassinari and Alberto Barbaresi
Land 2022, 11(11), 1917; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11111917 - 28 Oct 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2954
Abstract
Predominantly, dense historical cities face insufficient pedestrian-level greenery in the urban spaces. The lack of greenery impacts the human thermal comfort on the walking paths, which contributes to a considerable reduction in pedestrian flow rate. This study aims at developing a model to [...] Read more.
Predominantly, dense historical cities face insufficient pedestrian-level greenery in the urban spaces. The lack of greenery impacts the human thermal comfort on the walking paths, which contributes to a considerable reduction in pedestrian flow rate. This study aims at developing a model to assess pedestrian-level thermal comfort in city environments and then evaluate the feasibility of creating a green pedestrian network (GPN). Imola, as a historical city in Italy with a compact urban pattern, is selected as the case study of this paper. To accomplish this, a three-dimensional digital twin at city scale is developed for the recognition of real-time shade patterns and for designing a GPN in this city. The 3D model of the proposed digital twin is developed in the Rhinoceros platform, and the physiological equivalence temperature (PET) is simulated through EnergyPlus, Honeybee, and Ladybug components in grasshopper. This study provides the city with a digital twin that is capable of examining pedestrian-level thermal comfort for designing a GPN based on real-time PET in the compact urban morphology of Imola. The PET model indicates that during the hottest hour of the 25th of June, pedestrians in open spaces can experience 3 °C more than on narrow shaded streets. The results are validated based on in situ datasets that prove the reliability of the developed digital twin for the GPN. It provides urban planners and policy makers with a precise and useful methodology for simulating the effects of pedestrian-level urban greenery on human thermal comfort and also guarantees the functionality of policies in different urban settings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem Services of Rural Landscapes and Green Infrastructures)
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20 pages, 2072 KiB  
Article
Stakeholder Perceptions of the Ecosystem Services of Health Clinic Gardens in Settlements and Small- to Medium-Sized Cities in the North-West Province, South Africa
by Nanamhla Gwedla, Susanna Francina A. Cornelius, Marié J. Du Toit and Sarel S. Cilliers
Land 2022, 11(11), 1904; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11111904 - 26 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2487
Abstract
Gardens provide spaces for connectedness to nature, which contributes to human well-being and promotes pro-environmental behavior. However, the provision of ecosystem services (ES) in gardens of sub-Saharan Africa is challenged by a lack of knowledge, resulting in inefficient gardening practices. Stakeholders also influence [...] Read more.
Gardens provide spaces for connectedness to nature, which contributes to human well-being and promotes pro-environmental behavior. However, the provision of ecosystem services (ES) in gardens of sub-Saharan Africa is challenged by a lack of knowledge, resulting in inefficient gardening practices. Stakeholders also influence the manifestation of ES provisioning through their perceptions, learning, and decisions. Health clinic gardens may be able to address some of these challenges where other types of gardens fail because of a lack of awareness of other garden benefits and a lack of gardening skills and knowledge, among other factors. Thus, this study aimed to assess stakeholder perceptions of ES provided by health clinic gardens in the North-West province, South Africa. Survey questionnaires were administered to 218 stakeholders across 105 health clinic gardens to ascertain their involvement and prioritization of the ES provided by the gardens and their perspectives on gardens in general. The diversity and abundance of stakeholders per clinic garden were enumerated based on the respondents’ reports. Stakeholder prioritization of ES was scored out of 5, where 1 is the least prioritization. Health clinic gardens have a diversity of one to five types of stakeholders per garden, and more than 80% of the gardens were reported to have a groundsman. Stakeholders spent 1.5 ± 0.5 to 4.7 ± 0.12 days/week engaged in garden activities. Groundsmen spent the most time (4.7 ± 0.12 days/week) in the gardens, while facility managers spent the least (0.90 ± 0.12). Regulating and cultural ES, each scoring an average of 3.7 out of 5, were perceived as the most valuable ES of health clinic gardens. A “garden” was mainly associated with vegetable cultivation and rarely linked with recreation or aesthetical appreciation. A case for establishing these gardens across the country and other developing countries of the Global South can be made through the assessment of their potential ES from the perspectives of stakeholders. This study addresses this topic and contributes to an understanding of the importance of a variety of stakeholders for maintaining functional health clinic gardens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem Services of Rural Landscapes and Green Infrastructures)
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21 pages, 5183 KiB  
Article
Construction of Ecological and Recreation Patterns in Rural Landscape Space: A Case Study of the Dujiangyan Irrigation District in Chengdu, China
by Qidi Dong, Linjia Wu, Jun Cai, Di Li and Qibing Chen
Land 2022, 11(3), 383; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11030383 - 5 Mar 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2623
Abstract
The rapid expansion of urbanization has promoted the prosperity of the economy and society but has also caused rural ecological problems. This study takes the Dujiangyan Irrigation District as an example, to construct ecological and recreation patterns, and it breaks through the pattern [...] Read more.
The rapid expansion of urbanization has promoted the prosperity of the economy and society but has also caused rural ecological problems. This study takes the Dujiangyan Irrigation District as an example, to construct ecological and recreation patterns, and it breaks through the pattern construction mode of using a single ecological factor that has been used in previous studies. We analyzed the impact of landscape connectivity and area thresholds at different scales on the selection of source areas, and integrated urban construction and human disturbance factors into resistance surface construction. Finally, a comprehensive landscape network combining “ecology and recreation” was determined through the minimum cumulative resistance model. Multiscale landscape connectivity analysis and area threshold setting greatly promoted the results of source identification. After optimization, we identified four ecological corridors and twenty-seven recreational corridors, and the regional landscape security pattern was significantly improved compared with the previous upper planning content. Therefore, this study provides a reference for regional long-term planning and has reference significance for the spatial protection and utilization of rapidly urbanizing areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem Services of Rural Landscapes and Green Infrastructures)
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