Analysis of the Ecological Efficiency Increase of Urban Green Areas in Densely Populated Cities

Barbara Cardone, Valeria D’Ambrosio, Ferdinando Di Martino, Vittorio Miraglia and Marina Rigillo ()
Additional contact information
Barbara Cardone: Department of Architecture, University of Naples Federico II, 80134 Naples, Italy
Valeria D’Ambrosio: Department of Architecture, University of Naples Federico II, 80134 Naples, Italy
Ferdinando Di Martino: Department of Architecture, University of Naples Federico II, 80134 Naples, Italy
Vittorio Miraglia: Department of Architecture, University of Naples Federico II, 80134 Naples, Italy
Marina Rigillo: Department of Architecture, University of Naples Federico II, 80134 Naples, Italy

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: The aim of this research is to provide a GIS model by which to evaluate the ecological benefits of increasing green spaces in dense cities. The research method consists of three stages. First, we apply a GIS-based model to assess the ecological efficiency of the existing urban green areas; then we select several dismissed open spaces to be regenerated by increasing green space; finally, we measure the impacts of these operations on the urban environment based on the increase in ecologically effective green area/inhabitant. We test this approach on the urban districts of the northern area of the municipality of Napoli (Italy). This area is characterized by a high population density and several abandoned/discarded open spaces which can be improved by planting operations as urban green spaces. The result of the study provides the ratio between the costs of the planting works carried out on uncultivated areas and the benefit in terms of ecological efficiency measured in square meters of ecologically efficient green surfaces per inhabitant. Our method can represent a useful tool to support planners in evaluating the ecological benefits of transforming open spaces into green spaces.

Keywords: ecological efficiency; ecological benefits; urban green areas; open spaces (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/3/523/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/3/523/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:3:p:523-:d:1075354

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().