2007 Summer Academy Megacities: Social vulnerability and resilience building

1. 2007 Summer Academy Megacities: Social vulnerability and resilience building Ecosystem services Ecological drivers/needs provisioning products, jobs, biodiversity … regulating temperature, noise,wind … Social drivers/needs cultural Education, recreation, perception … supporting Social networks, economic benefits … Set of Criteria and Indicators Green structure Example: BIODIVERSITY service social ecological neighbourhood Reducing vulnerability by increasing urban green functionality (Nicole Stern, University of Salzburg) Cities are socio-ecological systems where the interaction of humans and nature is a continuous dynamic process driven by socio – human and biophysic-ecological factors [1]. Urbanisation puts pressure on the social – ecological construct and a continuous provision of ecosystem services is essential for the quality of life of city dwellers. Green space in city fulfils a series of functions, which target the natural and geophysical environment as well as the social and cultural aspects. Their value is expressed in the contribution and services for human well-being provided by the ecosystems through their proper functioning [2,3]. It is assumed that vulnerability is dependent and can be measured through the city’s ability to balance its socio-ecological functions [4]. Method: Definition of ecosystem services: From literature and according the MEA [2] approach the characteristic services of public urban green space will be developed in accordance with the research question. The criteria for selection will be based on mega city specific problems and in line with the resilience concept. Indicator based evaluation of services: For each of the selected service a set of indicator will be defined, that allows an assessment of the green space ability to contribute to this service in a socio-ecological integrated view. Neighbourhood impact as well as green space connectivity will be considered. Test/application of indicator set: The indicator set will be tested and applied to selected public park areas in the Metropolitan Area Shanghai. Urban structural spatial analysis will provide data on Green space connectivity and neighbourhood implications. The main focus is to obtain information on the social-ecological value of traditional grown and newly build green areas as well as its coherence with the specific Megacity needs. Data evaluation: Using multi-criteria assessment methods a service-specific analysis of the tested green space will be made. Expected results: The research intents to identify the “best possible” conditions and structures within public urban green spaces, which will help to provide a stable level of nature-people interdependence. This is based on the assumption that especially in Megacities with their high complexity and high dynamics a well balanced green structure can significantly contribute to the reduction of the social and ecological vulnerability. A comparison of the evaluation results with planning standards is expected to give evidence to the efficiency of these standards for limiting social and ecological vulnerability. [1] Resiliance Alliance (2007).Research Prospectus: A Resilience Alliance Initiative for Transitioning Urban Systems towards Sustainable Futures [2] Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis. Island Press, Washington, DC. [3] Elmqvist T. et al (2004). The Dynamics of Social-Ecological Systems in Urban Landscapes. Ann.N.Y.Acad.Sci. 1023.p.308-322 [4] Alberti, M. et al. (2003). Integrating Humans into Ecology: Opportunities and Challenges for Studying Urban Ecosystems. BioScience, 53.p.1169-1179