Description

Proportion of natural areas within a defined urban zone (fraction or %)

Biodiversity is the measure of biological variety in the environment and it has an important role in functioning ecosystems services and health of environment and society. Biodiversity is an aspect of natural environment that is most directly affected by anthropogenic influence. City biodiversity is seen as an important aspect of sustainable and resilient urban development. Natural areas are defined as ecosystems, which are not significantly influenced by human actions and comprise mainly of native species in natural environments. Such environments are important in preserving biodiversity as natural areas typically harbour much larger biodiversity than urban or constructed green spaces.

Scale as linked to D2.2 framework

• City
• Neighborhood

Data source [ link to data framework]

• Satellite/ satellite-derived land use map e.g. CORINE

Data needs

• Data on zones in natural or naturalized condition in the urban area of interest from, e.g., government agencies, municipalities, nature groups, universities, etc.

Expected Outputs

• Proportion of natural areas within a defined urban zone (fraction or %)

Calculation methods

• GIS 

Links and references

• Chan, L., Hillel, O., Elmqvist, T., Werner, P., Holman, N., Mader, A., & Calcaterra, E. (2014). User’s Manual on the Singapore Index on Cities’ Biodiversity (also known as the City Biodiversity Index). Singapore: National Parks Board, Singapore.