Cities can be viewed as areas that are predominantly characterized by sealed surfaces such as streets, bike lanes, buildings, paved squares and sidewalks in order to accommodate the needs for mobility, housing, social and economic activities. The sheer amount of built up surfaces in urban areas disrupt Nature’s hydrological cycles and energy exchange, which lead to urban heat island effects or increased surface runoff of rainwater causing urban flooding.
At the same time, urban ecosystems in terms of street trees, lawns, urban parks and forests, wetlands, lakes and streams provide a range of highly valued ecosystem services for urban dwellers. Urban ecosystems are known to provide air filtration, microclimate regulation, noise reduction, rainwater drainage, sewage treatment, along with cultural ecosystem services such as recreation, physical and mental well-being, social inclusion and sense of place. Also land and housing values are positively affected by urban green areas.
Provisioning services such as urban food production is increasingly found in cities, as people seek contact to nature and the pleasures of local or home food production. Ecosystems in urban areas are also generally highly managed and controlled. Extreme examples of this are green roofs and green walls on sealed surfaces, which seek to create new habitats for ecosystem services. Combinations of green roofs and urban farming or renewable energy production are signs of the attempts in many cities to integrate multiple usages of urban space.
Urban areas are expanding. Europe is already today the most urbanized continent, and is projected to increase even further. As a consequence, competition for space in cities and land in peri-urban areas is fierce. Understanding the value and importance of ecosystems, the consequences of disrupting service flows and the way in which we can work with and enhance nature’s services close to where people live is essential for our welfare today and in the future.
Recent and ongoing projects:
PoCaCiTo: Post-Carbon Cities of Tomorrow – foresight for sustainable pathways towards liveable, affordable and prospering cities in a word context facilitates the transition of EU cities to a forecasted sustainable or “post‐carbon” economic model, eventually leading to an evidence‐based EU 2050 post-carbon city roadmap. Research was funded by EU FP7.
ØKOKLIM: Ecosystem based approaches to climate adaptation – possibilities and conflicts in urban Areas investigates the prospects and conflicts of systematically applying an ecosystem based approach to climate adaptation in the municipality of Copenhagen. Research was funded by DCE.
ØkoFORS: Ecosystem services, climate adaptation and nature quality in surburban landscapes uncovers the potential of surburban private landscapes to host a richer nature and ecosystem services. Research was funded by DCE.
Permeable Green City - combining Life Politics, Biodiversity, Citizen Empowerment, and Sustainable Urban Drainage to create an Ecologically and Socially Resilient City. The project develops a model for public participation in climate adaptation projects in urban parks and carries out a demonstration.
Publications:
Byens grønne struktur : Natur og miljø i bylandskabet / Petersen, Lars Kjerulf; Ejrnæs, Rasmus; Levin, Gregor; Jensen, Anne; Zandersen, Marianne. Aarhus Universitetsforlag, 2015. 100 s. (MiljøBiblioteket; Nr. 2).
Combining biodiversity, climate adaptation and citizen engagement – the case of public participation in an urban park / Zandersen, Marianne; Stage, Carsten. 2015. Abstract from RE-DO, Aarhus, Danmark.
Parcelhushaven - en del af byens natur / Petersen, L.K.; Levin, G.; Ejrnæs, R., Zandersen, M.; Jensen, A.; Brunbjerg, A.K. 2014. Report.
Ecosystem based approaches to climate adaptation: Urban Prospects and Barriers / Zandersen, M.; Jensen, A.; Termansen, M.; Buchholtz, G.; Munter, B.; Blemmer, M.K.; Bruun, H.G.; Andersen, A.H. Report. 2014.
Naturkvalitetsanalyser i bynaturen / Hald, Anna Bodil. 2011. Report.
LINABY - Bynaturen i hverdagslivet /Urban nature in everyday life /Petersen, Lars Kjerulf; Hald, Anna Bodil; Jensen, Anne. Report /Synthesis.
