Centre for Environmental Research and Impact Studies @ University of Bucharest

SmallGreen

Project title: Contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice

Project number: PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2019-1543

Contract no.: TE 43/2020

Funding body: Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI)

Budget: 431.900 RON

Period: 2020-2022

Research team:

Diana Andreea Onose– Project Coordinator

Athanasios Alexandru Gavrilidis – Post-doctoral researcher

Simona-Raluca Grădinaru– Post-doctoral researcher

Ana-Maria Popa – PhD student

Andreea-Raluca Slave – PhD student

Sumary

Sustainable urbanization and environmental justice represent key topics in international documents like the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Habitat Agenda and 7th Environmental Action Programme of the European Union. Small urban green infrastructures could have an important role in building sustainable and inclusive cities but the subject is still little approached in scientific studies because of the difficulties it poses, like the scale of analysis and the complex challenges these infrastructures face. The aim of the project is to analyze the contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice using complex spatial and statistical analysis, remote sensing and sociological and expert evaluation. The project is structured in 4 objectives starting with establishing the conceptual framework for assessing the contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice (O1), continuing with the assessment of the spatial (O2) and functional (O3) contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice and developing a methodological framework for assessing their contribution (O4). The originality of the project resides in the approach of small urban green infrastructure which can be a valuable tool for creating compact green cities and on the focus of different social categories (in terms of age or social status) in order to provide inclusive planning and design options. The deliverables of the project include 4 ISI articles (cumulated impact factor over 8), 6 presentations at international conferences, 2 presentation at national conferences, case studies spatial databases publicly available through webGIS applications. Both project leader and members of the research team have good track of publications in the field of Urban, regional and rural studies.

Aim

The main objective of the project is to assess the contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice filling the gap regarding their capacity to compensate for large green spaces which are hard to include in urban compact development. This represents a significant contribution since there is only little research both regarding the quantification of the multifunctionality of small urban green infrastructure and the equity of its access and use at urban level.

Objectives

The specific objectives of the project are:

(1) Establishing a Conceptual framework for assessing the contribution of small UGI in achieving environmental justice;

(2) Assessing the Spatial contribution of small UGI in achieving environmental justice;

(3)Assessing the Functional contribution of small UGI in achieving environmental justice;

(4) Developing a methodological framework for assessing the contribution of small UGI in achieving environmental justice.

Main results

ISI Articles

Popa, A.M., Iojă, I.C., Niță, M.R., Onose, D.A. (2022) Urban sustainability assessment of Romanian cities in Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences 17 (2), p.373-385, IF 1.347 

Popa A.M., Onose D.A., Șandric I.C., Dosiadis, E.A., Petropoulos, G.P., Gavrilidis A.A. Faka A. (2022), Using GEOBIA and vegetation indices to assess small urban green areas in two climatic regions, Remote Sensing 14, IF 5.349

Grădinaru S.R., Onose D.A., Oliveira E., Slave A.R., Popa A.M., Gavrilidis A.A. (2022), Equity in urban greening: Evidence from strategic planning in Romania, Landscape and Urban Planning 230: 104614; IF 8.119

Gavrilidis A.A., Popa A.M., Onose D. A. Gradinaru S.R. (2022) Planning small for winning big: Small urban green space distribution patterns in an expanding city. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening (2022): 127787; IF 5.766

Gavrilidis A.A., Onose D.A., Popa A.M., Zakerhaghighi K., Akbarian Z., Grădinaru S.R., Slave A.R. (2023) Small public urban green spaces provisioning of cultural ecosystem services: Perspectives from different cultural backgrounds, Ecosystem Services, IF 6.91

Onose D.A., Iojă I.C., Artmann M., Popa A.M., Mitincu C.G., Gavrilidis A.A. (2021) Green for Grey: Interaction with green amenities in elder care facilities from Romania (prepared for resubmission)

Slave A.R., Grădinaru S.R., Onose D.A., Albert C., Esmail, B.A., Popa A.M., Hossu C.A. (2022), Trends in the role of strategic urban plans in mainstreaming quality green spaces, (in preparation)

BDI Articles

Onose D.A., Iojă, I.C., Slave A.R., Grădinaru S.R., Gavrilidis A.A., Popa A.M. (2021) Can church gardens represent a valuable recreation alternative in cities? In Schrenk M., Popovich V.V., Zeile P., Elisei P., Beyer, C., Ryser J., Stoglehner G., RealCorp 2021 Proceedings

Book Chapter

Dosiadis E.A., Petropoulos G.P., Popa A.M., Șandric I.C., Onose D.A., Srivastava P., Faka A. (2022, accepted) Using PlanetScop imagery and GEOBIA to map urban green spaces in Srivastava, P.K., Kumar, A., Saikia, P, Nautiyal, S. & Kumar Mal R.(eds), Earth Observation in Urban Monitoring: Techniques and Challenges, Elsevier

Policy Brief

Onose D.A., Grădinaru S.R., Popa A.M., Slave A.R. (2022), Echitate în planificarea spațiilor verzi urbane în Rapoartele CCMESI (2)

Conferences

2022

Onose, D.A. (2022), GIS for participatory planning of urban nature in Bucharest, Workshop Making Urban Nature Count, 8-10 Septembrie 2022, București, România

Onose, D.A., Gradinaru, S.R., Ioja, I.C., Gavrilidis A.A., Popa A.M. (2022), Equitable use of urban green infrastructure. Insights for the co-design of urban parks, IALE 2022 European Landscape Ecology Congress: Making the future, learning from the past, 11-15 Iulie 2022, Varșovia, Polonia (online)

Popa, A.M., Onose, D.A., Slave, A.R., Grădinaru, S.R., Gavrilidis, A.A. (2022), Planning and designing small urban green areas using PPGIS, 5th International Conference on “Changing Cities”, 20-25 Iunie 2022, Corfu Island, Grecia

Grădinaru, S.R., Onose, D.A., Slave, A.R., Popa, A.M., Gavrilidis, A.A. (2022), Equitable planning of urban green infrastructure: the role of strategic planning in Romanian cities, Dresden Nexus Conference, 23-25 Mai 2022, Dresden, Germania (online)

Dosiadis, E., Triantakonstantis, D., Popa, A.M., Detsikas, S.E., Șandric, I.C., Petropoulos, G.P., Onose D.A., Chalkias, C. (2022), A GEOBIA-based approach for mapping Urban Green Spaces using PlanetScope imagery: the case of Athens, EGU General Assembly 2022, 23-27 May 2022, Viena, Austria

2021

Gavrilidis A.A., Onose D.A., Grădinaru S.R., Popa A.M., Slave A.R (2021) Experimental assessment of urban green features influences over urban microclimate, The 2nd International Conference: Geographical Sciences and Future of Earth, November 12, Bucharest, Romania

Onose D.A., Popa A.M., Grădinaru S.R., Gavrilidis A.A. (2021) Potential of small urban green spaces of providing nature experience for children, IOER Annual Conference 2021: Space Transformation, September 21-24, Dresden, Germany

Onose D.A., Iojă, I.C., Slave A.R., Grădinaru S.R., Gavrilidis A.A., Popa A.M. (2021) Can church gardens represent a valuable recreation alternative in cities?, 26th International Conference on Urban Planning and Regional Development in the Information Society – RealCorp 2021, September 7-10, Vienna, Austria

Gavrilidis A.A., Onose D.A., Grădinaru S.R., Popa A.M., Slave A.R. (2021) Identifying key determinants for the dispersal patterns of small urban green spaces, 34th International Geographical Congress. Geography: Bridging the Continents, August 16-20, Istambul, Turkey

Onose D.A., Gavrilidis A.A., Grădinaru S.R., Vânău G.O., Popa A.M., Slave A.R. (2021) Methodological frameworks for assessing the equity in planning urban parks, The 3rd World Conference of the Society for Urban Ecology, July 7-9, Poznan, Poland 

Popa A.M., Gradinaru S.R., Onose D.A., Gavrilidis A.A., Slave A.R. (2021) Green Equity in international planning documents, International Syposium Present Environment and Sustainable Development (PESD), June 18-19, Iași

Onose D.A, Ioja I.C., Popa A.M. (2021) Assessing the ecosystem services and disservices provided by green spaces in care facilities for elderly people, Ecosystem Services Science, Policy and Practice in the face of Global Changes (ESP Europea), June 7-10, Tartu, Estonia

Popa A.M., Onose D.A.Sandric I.C., Gradinaru S.R., Gavrilidis A.A. (2021) Dynamic evaluation of small urban green areas at local level using GEOBIA, European Geosciences Union, April 19-30, Online

2020

Gavrilidis A.A., Onose D.A., Grădinaru S.R., Popa A.M., Slave A.R. (2020), Management challenges of small urban green spaces – a 10 year literature review, International Symposium Present Environment and Sustainable Development, November 21, Iași, Romania

Onose D.A., Iojă I.C., Slave A.R., Grădinaru S.R., Gavrilidis A.A., Popa A.M., (2020) Assessing the use of collective residential gardens in cities, The 2nd International Conference on Re-shaping Territories, Environment and Societies: New Challenges for Geography, November 20, Bucharest, Romania

Popa A.M., Onose D.A., Gavrilidis A.A., Grădinaru S.R., Slave R.A. (2020) Potential contribution of small green infrastructure in improving quality of life at urban level, International Geographical Conference Dimitrie Cantemir, 40th Edition, October 24, Iasi, Romania

Web GIS Applications

Application for collecting data regarding the problems of small green spaces

Application for data visualization

Reports

Final Scientific Report 2020 – 2022 Română

Scientific Report 2022 Română

Scientific Report 2021 Română / English

Scientific Report 2020 Română / English