UGI-Plan

Brief Description

In this research project, ecosystem services in urban horticulture are investigated. The aim is to provide a scientific basis for the development of GIS-based software for the quantification of urban ecosystem services, validated on urban horticulture. In addition to conducting water balance, urban climatological and ecological studies, the development of a software tool based on GeoMedia Smart Client Kommunal (GMSC-K) is planned. The investigation will be carried out both on a small scale through field trials and on a large scale at quarter level.

Inducement and Goal

Urban gardens are an integral part of urban ecosystems and play an essential role as part of the Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI). Considerable inner-city densification with a decrease in ecosystem services has been observed in urban areas. This trend is counteracted by urban gardening, which has a long history in Germany in the form of allotment gardens and has received a major boost in recent years, also through innovative garden forms. However, this has so far only been reflected to a limited extent in municipal planning, which is also due to the fact that the ecosystemic value of urban gardens cannot yet be sufficiently taken into account in municipal planning due to a lack of planning tools. The UGI-Plan project closes this gap by providing GIS-based software for quantifying UGI-ecosystem services especially for urban gardens. For this purpose, the complex coupling processes of urban green spaces with the inanimate environment of the urban body (the grey infrastructure) and their interaction on human well-being are anchored in municipal development planning with the help of a digital twin. 

Working Packages

WP1: Inventory of the pilot areas
Identification of key parameters, data needs and key ecosystem services

WP2: Creation and expansion of database applications for the valorisation of ecosystem services, including the development of mathematical relationships.
Measurement of relevant parameters over the course of the year; creation of further databases and elaboration of mathematical relationships

WP3: Validation of the databases based on the measurement data of the urban gardens
Determination of the forecast quality on the basis of measurements on the study/reference areas

WP5: Practical testing of the UGI-Plan tool in pilot applications at different municipal levels
Practical testing with the involvement of a Board of Communal Practitioners

WP6: Scientific dissemination of the UGI-Plan tool
Knowledge transfer, publication of case studies, implementation of user trainings

Publications

• Fauk, T. and Schneider P. Modeling urban tree growth as a part of the green infrastructure to estimate ecosystem services in urban planning. Front. Environ. Sci. 11:1090652. 2023.  Link to the paper
   
• Schneider, P., Fauk, T. The Role of Allotment Gardens for Connecting Nature and People. In: Misiune, I., Depellegrin, D., Egarter Vigl, L. (eds) Human-Nature Interactions. Springer, Cham 2022. Link to the paper