Urban oases under climate change - study on the socio-ecological significance of urban green spaces for human well-being
Cities will be particularly affected by the impacts of climate change, e.g. due to heavy precipitation or longer periods of heat. In this context, urban green spaces including trees, park areas and forests will gain enormously in importance in several respects. Depending on their vegetation structure and size, these green spaces have different biophysical effects and contribute, among other things, to temperature equalization. In recent years, the urban ecological importance of urban green spaces has been increasingly linked to aspects of biodiversity and sustainable urban climate adaptation, as well as to the health of people in the city, whose demand for recreation in urban green spaces is increasing. Urban green space has the potential to mitigate different impacts of climate change in cities, contributing directly and indirectly to the health of residents.
The StOasenWandel project focuses on the social-ecological, health- and climate-related importance of small green spaces: urban oases. The importance of size and structure will be investigated in terms of micrometeorological and health factors. We hypothesize that many small urban oases (<1ha) in our growing and increasingly warmer cities play an important role in urban climate adaptation and health care, and in aggregate have a greater impact than one large urban oasis.
The aim of the project is on the one hand to investigate which effects urban oases can have on the immediate environment and human health and which vegetation structures turn out to be beneficial for preventive health care and the measured and perceived microclimate within urban oases. On the other hand, the project intends to derive target-oriented recommendations for action for the future development of green spaces in cities on the basis of the results.
Contact:
Duration:
2022 - 2025
Funding:
Bayerisches Ministerium für Gesundheit und Pflege (StMGP)
Bayerisches Ministerium für Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz (StMUV)
Publications:
Egerer M, Annighöfer P, Arzberger S, Burger S, Hecher Y, Knill V, Probst B, Suda M (2024). Urban oases: the social-ecological importance of small urban green spaces. Ecosystems and People, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2024.2315991