urban regeneration project case study

How Eight Cities Succeeded in Rejuvenating their Urban Land

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SINGAPORE, July 13, 2016 – The single most crucial component in rejuvenating decaying urban areas around the world is private sector participation, according to a report released today from the World Bank and the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) during the World Cities Summit taking place in Singapore this week.

“ Urban regeneration projects are rarely implemented solely by the public sector.  There is a need for massive financial resources that most cities can’t meet,” said Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez, Senior Director for the World Bank’s Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice .  “Participation from the private sector is a critical factor in determining whether a regeneration program is successful – programs that create urban areas where citizens can live, work, and thrive .”

Every city has pockets of underused land or distressed urban areas, most often the result of changes in urban growth and productivity patterns. In developing countries, which are absorbing 90 percent of the world’s urban population growth, decaying inner cities are home to an increasing number of poor and vulnerable citizens. These areas marginalize and exclude residents, and can have a long-term negative effect on their upward mobility.

Regenerating Urban Land: A Practitioner’s Guide to Leveraging Private Investment looks at regeneration programs from eight cities around the world – Ahmedabad, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Santiago, Singapore, Seoul, Shanghai, and Washington DC – documenting the journeys they have faced in tackling major challenges in this area. 

Building on the experience of cities from different regions around the world, the report looks at projects for inner cities, former industrial or commercial site, ports, waterfronts, and historic neighborhoods. While the cases vary in many aspects, what they have in common is significant private sector participation in the regeneration and rehabilitation of deteriorating urban areas. 

The report singles out successful policy and finance tools in each city case study, and points out issues and challenges the city faced during the process. It identifies four distinct phases for successful urban regeneration: scoping, planning, financing, and implementation. Each phase includes a set of unique mechanisms that local governments can use to systematically design a regeneration process.

For example, in Singapore, the polluted Singapore River was no longer used for trading activities as large-scale container ports gained prominence. 

“ Capitalizing on the Singapore River’s historical importance and potential for redevelopment, the government launched a transformational program that preserved cultural heritage, improved the environment, and opened the area for recreational pedestrian use.  Similar efforts elsewhere can rejuvenate cities and regional economies,” said Jordan Schwartz, Director of the World Bank’s Infrastructure & Urban Development Hub, based in Singapore .

Yet there is no “one size fits all” approach when looking for solutions to cities’ declining areas.  The report stresses that while the tools presented in the report yielded successful results in many cities around the world, no one solution is universally applicable to all cities and situations .  The report also emphasizes that with strong political leadership, any city can start an urban regeneration process, but the successful use of land-planning and finance tools depend on sound and well-enforced zoning and property tax systems.

“No two cities are alike, so to meet this challenge, the World Bank created an online decision tool, based on the specific issues the city faces and its current regulatory and financial environment ,” said Rana Amirtahmasebi, author of the report. “ Local governments can use the information curated in this report to begin to reverse the process of economic, social, and physical decay in urban areas, moving toward the sustainable, inclusive development of their cities.”    

Illustrating the transformation, other case studies from the new report include:

• The city of Santiago (Chile) lost almost 50 percent of its population and 33 percent of its housing stock between 1950 and 1990. But the city turned this around, using a national housing subsidy to specifically target the repopulation of the inner city. The private investment reached USD 3 billion throughout the life of project, stimulated by a USD 138 million subsidy.
• Buenos Aires (Argentina) found itself on the verge of becoming unsustainable, when urban sprawl moved away from downtown leaving prime waterfront land, with significant architectural and industrial heritage, vacant and underused. To tackle this problem, the city used a self-financing urban regeneration initiative in Puerto Madero to redevelop the unused 170-hectare land parcel to an attractive mixed-use waterfront neighborhood. The total investment reached USD 1.7 billion, with USD 300 million invested by the city through the sale of land.
• Seoul (Republic of Korea) experienced a major decrease in residential and commercial activity in its downtown, where small plots, narrow roads, and high land prices made development too costly. From 1975 to 1995, Seoul lost more than half its downtown population, while substandard housing for mostly squatters and renters was more than twice the city’s average. Seoul launched the Cheonggyecheon revitalization project to redevelop an 18-lane elevated highway into a revitalized stream with green public space totaling 16.3 hectares, dramatically increasing real estate values and the variety of uses for the downtown areas.
• In Ahmedabad (India) , the closure of mills along the Sabarmati Riverfront caused unemployed laborers to form large informal settlements along the riverbed, creating unsafe and unclean living areas and reducing the flood management capacity.  In response, the city created a development corporation to reclaim 200 hectares of riverfront land on both sides and paid the project costs through the sale of 14.5 percent of the reclaimed land, while the rest of the riverfront was transformed into public parks and laborers resettled through a national program. 
• In the 18-square kilometer inner city of Johannesburg (South Africa) , a series of targeted regeneration initiatives achieved a decline in property vacancy rates from 40 percent in 2003 to 17 percent in 2008, and a similar jump in property transactions.  Since 2001, for every rand (R) 1 million (about USD 63,000) invested by the Johannesburg Development Authority, private investors have put R 18 million into the inner city of Johannesburg, creating property assets valued at R 600 million and infrastructure assets valued at R 3.1 billion.

For the full report and toolkit, please visit: https://urban-regeneration.worldbank.org/

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King’s Cross

Format Full City London Country UK Metro Area London Project Type Mixed Use Location Type Central Business District Land Uses Hotel Multifamily Rental Housing Office Open space Parking Retail Keywords Brownfield development Energy-efficient design Healthy place features Pedestrian-friendly design Place making Public-private partnership Transit station Transit-oriented development Urban regeneration Site Size 67 acres acres hectares Date Started 2001 Date Opened 2020

King’s Cross is a mixed-use, urban regeneration project in central London that is also a major transport hub for the city. Located on the site of former rail and industrial facilities, the 67-acre (27 ha) redevelopment is ongoing and involves restoration of historic buildings as well as new construction, with the entire plan organised around internal streets and 26 acres (10.5 ha) of open space to form a new public realm for the area. Principal uses include 3.4 million square feet (316,000 sq m) of office space, 2,000 residential units, 500,000 square feet (46,400 sq m) of retail and leisure space, a hotel, and educational facilities. The site is served directly by six London Underground lines, two national mainline train stations, and an international high-speed rail connecting to Paris.

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Website www.kingscross.co.uk

Project address King’s Cross London N1C 4AB United Kingdom

Ownership entity/developer King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership

Ownership entity partners Argent LLP London and Continental Railways Limited DHL Supply Chain

Master developer and asset manager Argent King’s Cross Limited Partnership 4 Stable Street King's Cross London N1C 4AB United Kingdom www.argentllp.co.uk

Investment partner Hermes Real Estate on behalf of the BT Pension Scheme

CONTRACTORS AND CONSULTANTS

Master planners Allies and Morrison www.alliesandmorrison.com

Porphyrios Associates www.porphyrios.co.uk

Townshend Landscape Architects. www.townshendla.com

Contractors Carillon BAM Kier Group

Registered social landlord One Housing Group

Office advisers DTZ Savills

Residential advisers Knight Frank

Retail and catering advisers Lunson Mitchenall

Hotel advisers CB Richard Ellis

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Urban Regeneration through Public Space: A Case Study in Squares in Dalian, China

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• Published: 02 September 2024

Green spaces provide substantial but unequal urban cooling globally

• Yuxiang Li 1 ,
• Jens-Christian Svenning   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3415-0862 2 ,
• Weiqi Zhou   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7323-4906 3 , 4 , 5 ,
• Kai Zhu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1587-3317 6 ,
• Jesse F. Abrams   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0411-8519 7 ,
• Timothy M. Lenton   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6725-7498 7 ,
• William J. Ripple 8 ,
• Zhaowu Yu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4576-4541 9 ,
• Shuqing N. Teng 1 ,
• Robert R. Dunn 10 &
• Chi Xu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1841-9032 1  

Nature Communications volume  15 , Article number:  7108 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Climate-change mitigation
• Urban ecology

Climate warming disproportionately impacts countries in the Global South by increasing extreme heat exposure. However, geographic disparities in adaptation capacity are unclear. Here, we assess global inequality in green spaces, which urban residents critically rely on to mitigate outdoor heat stress. We use remote sensing data to quantify daytime cooling by urban greenery in the warm seasons across the ~500 largest cities globally. We show a striking contrast, with Global South cities having ~70% of the cooling capacity of cities in the Global North (2.5 ± 1.0 °C vs. 3.6 ± 1.7 °C). A similar gap occurs for the cooling adaptation benefits received by an average resident in these cities (2.2 ± 0.9 °C vs. 3.4 ± 1.7 °C). This cooling adaptation inequality is due to discrepancies in green space quantity and quality between cities in the Global North and South, shaped by socioeconomic and natural factors. Our analyses further suggest a vast potential for enhancing cooling adaptation while reducing global inequality.

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Introduction.

Heat extremes are projected to be substantially intensified by global warming 1 , 2 , imposing a major threat to human mortality and morbidity in the coming decades 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 . This threat is particularly concerning as a majority of people now live in cities 7 , including those cities suffering some of the hottest climate extremes. Cities face two forms of warming: warming due to climate change and warming due to the urban heat island effect 8 , 9 , 10 . These two forms of warming have the potential to be additive, or even multiplicative. Climate change in itself is projected to result in rising maximum temperatures above 50 °C for a considerable fraction of the world if 2 °C global warming is exceeded 2 ; the urban heat island effect will cause up to >10 °C additional (surface) warming 11 . Exposures to temperatures above 35 °C with high humidity or above 40 °C with low humidity can lead to lethal heat stress for humans 12 . Even before such lethal temperatures are reached, worker productivity 13 and general health and well-being 14 can suffer. Heat extremes are especially risky for people living in the Global South 15 , 16 due to warmer climates at low latitudes. Climate models project that the lethal temperature thresholds will be exceeded with increasing frequencies and durations, and such extreme conditions will be concentrated in low-latitude regions 17 , 18 , 19 . These low-latitude regions overlap with the major parts of the Global South where population densities are already high and where population growth rates are also high. Consequently, the number of people exposed to extreme heat will likely increase even further, all things being equal 16 , 20 . That population growth will be accompanied by expanded urbanization and intensified urban heat island effects 21 , 22 , potentially exacerbating future Global North-Global South heat stress exposure inequalities.

Fortunately, we know that heat stress can be buffered, in part, by urban vegetation 23 . Urban green spaces, and especially urban forests, have proven an effective means through which to ameliorate heat stress through shading 24 , 25 and transpirational cooling 26 , 27 . The buffering effect of urban green spaces is influenced by their area (relative to the area of the city) and their spatial configuration 28 . In this context, green spaces become a kind of infrastructure that can and should be actively managed. At broad spatial scales, the effect of this urban green infrastructure is also mediated by differences among regions, whether in their background climate 29 , composition of green spaces 30 , or other factors 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 . The geographic patterns of the buffering effects of green spaces, whether due to geographic patterns in their areal extent or region-specific effects, have so far been poorly characterized.

On their own, the effects of climate change and urban heat islands on human health are likely to become severe. However, these effects will become even worse if they fall disproportionately in cities or countries with less economic ability to invest in green space 35 or in other forms of cooling 36 , 37 . A number of studies have now documented the so-called ‘luxury effect,’ wherein lower-income parts of cities tend to have less green space and, as a result, reduced biodiversity 38 , 39 . Where the luxury effect exists, green space and its benefits become, in essence, a luxury good 40 . If the luxury effect holds among cities, and lower-income cities also have smaller green spaces, the Global South may have the least potential to mitigate the combined effects of climate warming and urban heat islands, leading to exacerbated and rising inequalities in heat exposure 41 .

Here, we assess the global inequalities in the cooling capability of existing urban green infrastructure across urban areas worldwide. To this end, we use remotely sensed data to quantify three key variables, i.e., (1) cooling efficiency, (2) cooling capacity, and (3) cooling benefit of existing urban green infrastructure for ~500 major cities across the world. Urban green infrastructure and temperature are generally negatively and relatively linearly correlated at landscape scales, i.e., higher quantities of urban green infrastructure yield lower temperatures 42 , 43 . Cooling efficiency is widely used as a measure of the extent to which a given proportional increase in the area of urban green infrastructure leads to a decrease in temperature, i.e., the slope of the urban green infrastructure-temperature relationship 42 , 44 , 45 (see Methods for details). This simple metric allows quantifying the quality of urban green infrastructure in terms of ameliorating the urban heat island effect. Meanwhile, the extent to which existing urban green infrastructure cools down an entire city’s surface temperatures (compared to the non-vegetated built-up areas) is referred to as cooling capacity. Hence, cooling capacity is a function of the total quantity of urban green infrastructure and its cooling efficiency (see Methods).

As a third step, we account for the spatial distributions of urban green infrastructure and populations to quantify the benefit of cooling mitigation received by an average urban inhabitant in each city given their location. This cooling benefit is a more direct measure of the cooling realized by people, after accounting for the within-city geography of urban green infrastructure and population density. We focus on cooling capacity and cooling benefit as the measures of the cooling capability of individual cities for assessing their global inequalities. We are particularly interested in linking cooling adaptation inequality with income inequality 40 , 46 . While this can be achieved using existing income metrics for country classifications 47 , here we use the traditional Global North/South classification due to its historical ties to geography which is influential in climate research.

Results and discussion

Our analyses indicate that existing green infrastructure of an average city has a capability of cooling down surface temperatures by ~3 °C during warm seasons. However, a concerning disparity is evident; on average Global South cities have only two-thirds the cooling capacity and cooling benefit compared to Global North cities. This inequality is attributable to the differences in both quantity and quality of existing urban green infrastructure among cities. Importantly, we find that there exists considerable potential for many cities to enhance the cooling capability of their green infrastructure; achieving this potential could dramatically reduce global inequalities in adaptation to outdoor heat stress.

Quantifying cooling inequality

Our analyses showed that both the quantity and quality of the existing urban green infrastructure vary greatly among the world’s ~500 most populated cities (see Methods for details, and Fig.  1 for examples). The quantity of urban green infrastructure measured based on remotely sensed indicators of spectral greenness (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI, see Methods) had a coefficient of variation (CV) of 35%. Similarly, the quality of urban green infrastructure in terms of cooling efficiency (daytime land surface temperatures during peak summer) had a CV of 37% (Supplementary Figs.  1 , 2 ). The global mean value of cooling capacity is 2.9 °C; existing urban green infrastructure ameliorates warm-season heat stress by 2.9 °C of surface temperature in an average city. In truth, however, the variation in cooling capacity was great (global CV in cooling capacity as large as ~50%), such that few cities were average. This variation is strongly geographically structured. Cities closer to the equator - tropical and subtropical cities - tend to have relatively weak cooling capacities (Fig.  2a, b ). As Global South countries are predominantly located at low latitudes, this pattern leads to a situation in which Global South cities, which tend to be hotter and relatively lower-income, have, on average, approximately two-thirds the cooling capacity of the Global North cities (2.5 ± 1.0 vs. 3.6 ± 1.7°C, Wilcoxon test, p  = 2.7e-12; Fig.  2c ). The cities that most need to rely on green infrastructure are, at present, those that are least able to do so.

a , e , i , m , q Los Angeles, US. b , f , j , n , r Paris, France. c , g , k , o , s Shanghai, China. d , h , l , p , t Cairo, Egypt. Local cooling efficiency is calculated for different local climate zone types to account for within-city heterogeneity. In densely populated parts of cities, local cooling capacity tends to be lower due to reduced green space area, whereas local cooling benefit (local cooling capacity multiplied by a weight term of local population density relative to city mean) tends to be higher as more urban residents can receive cooling amelioration.

a Global distribution of cooling capacity for the 468 major urbanized areas. b Latitudinal pattern of cooling capacity. c Cooling capacity difference between the Global North and South cities. The cooling capacity offered by urban green infrastructure evinces a latitudinal pattern wherein lower-latitude cities have weaker cooling capacity ( b , cubic-spline fitting of cooling capacity with 95% confidence interval is shown), representing a significant inequality between Global North and South countries: city-level cooling capacity for Global North cities are about 1.5-fold higher than in Global South cities ( c ). Data are presented as box plots, where median values (center black lines), 25th percentiles (box lower bounds), 75th percentiles (box upper bounds), whiskers extending to 1.5-fold of the interquartile range (IQR), and outliers are shown. The tails of the cooling capacity distributions are truncated at zero as all cities have positive values of cooling capacity. Notice that no cities in the Global South have a cooling capacity greater than 5.5 °C ( c ). This is because no cities in the Global South have proportional green space areas as great as those seen in the Global North (see also Fig.  4b ). A similar pattern is found for cooling benefit (Supplementary Fig.  3 ). The two-sided non-parametric Wilcoxon test was used for statistical comparisons.

When we account for the locations of urban green infrastructure relative to humans within cities, the cooling benefit of urban green infrastructure realized by an average urban resident generally becomes slightly lower than suggested by cooling capacity (see Methods; Supplementary Fig.  3 ). Urban residents tend to be densest in the parts of cities with less green infrastructure. As a result, the average urban resident experiences less cooling amelioration than expected. However, this heterogeneity has only a minor effect on global-scale inequality. As a result, the geographic trends in cooling capacity and cooling benefit are similar: mean cooling benefit for an average urban resident also presents a 1.5-fold gap between Global South and North cities (2.2 ± 0.9 vs. 3.4 ± 1.7 °C, Wilcoxon test, p  = 3.2e-13; Supplementary Fig.  3c ). Urban green infrastructure is a public good that has the potential to help even the most marginalized populations stay cool; unfortunately, this public benefit is least available in the Global South. When walking outdoors, the average person in an average Global South city receives only two-thirds the cooling amelioration from urban green infrastructure experienced by a person in an average Global North city. The high cooling amelioration capacity and benefit of the Global North cities is heavily influenced by North America (specifically, Canada and the US), which have both the highest cooling efficiency and the largest area of green infrastructure, followed by Europe (Supplementary Fig.  4 ).

One way to illustrate the global inequality of cooling capacity or benefit is to separately look at the cities that are most and least effective in ameliorating outdoor heat stress. Our results showed that ~85% of the 50 most effective cities (with highest cooling capacity or cooling benefit) are located in the Global North, while ~80% of the 50 least effective are Global South cities (Fig.  3 , Supplementary Fig.  5 ). This is true without taking into account the differences in the background temperatures and climate warming of these cities, which will exacerbate the effects on human health; cities in the Global South are likely to be closer to the limits of human thermal comfort and even, increasingly, the limits of the temperatures and humidities (wet-bulb temperatures) at which humans can safely work or even walk, such that the ineffectiveness of green spaces in those cities in cooling will lead to greater negative effects on human health 48 , work 14 , and gross domestic product (GDP) 49 . In addition, Global South cities commonly have higher population densities (Fig.  3 , Supplementary Fig.  5 ) and are projected to have faster population growth 50 . This situation will plausibly intensify the urban heat island effect because of the need of those populations for housing (and hence tensions between the need for buildings and the need for green spaces). It will also increase the number of people exposed to extreme urban heat island effects. Therefore, it is critical to increase cooling benefit via expanding urban green spaces, so that more people can receive the cooling mitigation from a given new neighboring green space if they live closer to each other. Doing so will require policies that incentivize urban green spaces as well as architectural innovations that make innovations such as plant-covered buildings easier and cheaper to implement.

The axes on the right are an order of magnitude greater than those on the left, such that the cooling capacity of Charlotte in the United States is about 37-fold greater than that of Mogadishu (Somalia) and 29-fold greater than that of Sana’a (Yemen). The cities presenting lowest cooling capacities are most associated with Global South cities at higher population densities.

Of course, cities differ even within the Global North or within the Global South. For example, some Global South cities have high green space areas (or relatively high cooling efficiency in combination with moderate green space areas) and hence high cooling capacity. These cities, such as Pune (India), will be important to study in more detail, to shed light on the mechanistic details of their cooling abilities as well as the sociopolitical and other factors that facilitated their high green area coverage and cooling capabilities (Supplementary Figs.  6 , 7 ).

We conducted our primary analyses using a spatial grain of 100-m grid cells and Landsat NDVI data for quantifying spectral greenness. Our results, however, were robust at the coarser spatial grain of 1 km. We find a slightly larger global cooling inequality (~2-fold gap between Global South and North cities) at the 1-km grain using MODIS data (see Methods and Supplementary Fig.  17 ). MODIS data have been frequently used for quantifying urban heat island effects and cooling mitigation 44 , 45 , 51 . Our results reinforce its robustness for comparing urban thermal environments between cities across broad scales.

Influencing factors

The global inequality of cooling amelioration could have a number of proximate causes. To understand their relative influence, we first separately examined the effects of quality (cooling efficiency) and quantity (NDVI as a proxy indicator of urban green space area) of urban green infrastructure. The simplest null model is one in which cooling capacity (at the city scale) and cooling benefit (at the human scale) are driven primarily by the proportional area in a city dedicated to green spaces. Indeed, we found that both cooling capacity and cooling benefit were strongly correlated with urban green space area (Fig.  4 , Supplementary Fig.  8 ). This finding is useful with regards to practical interventions. In general, cities that invest in saving or restoring more green spaces will receive more cooling benefits from those green spaces. By contrast, differences among cities in cooling efficiency played a more minor role in determining the cooling capacity and benefit of cities (Fig.  4 , Supplementary Fig.  8 ).

a Relationship between cooling efficiency and cooling capacity. b Relationship between green space area (measured by mean Landsat NDVI in the hottest month of 2018) and cooling capacity. Note that the highest level of urban green space area in the Global South cities is much lower than that in the Global North (dashed line in b ). Gray bands indicate 95% confidence intervals. Two-sided t-tests were conducted. c A piecewise structural equation model based on assumed direct and indirect (through influencing cooling efficiency and urban green space area) effects of essential natural and socioeconomic factors on cooling capacity. Mean annual temperature and precipitation, and topographic variation (elevation range) are selected to represent basic background natural conditions; GDP per capita is selected to represent basic socioeconomic conditions. The spatial extent of built-up areas is included to correct for city size. A bi-directional relationship (correlation) is fitted between mean annual temperature and precipitation. Red and blue solid arrows indicate significantly negative and positive coefficients with p  ≤ 0.05, respectively. Gray dashed arrows indicate p  > 0.05. The arrow width illustrates the effect size. Similar relationships are found for cooling benefits realized by an average urban resident (see Supplementary Fig.  8 ).

A further question is what shapes the quality and quantity of urban green infrastructure (which in turn are driving cooling capacity)? Many inter-correlated factors are possibly operating at multiple scales, making it difficult to disentangle their effects, especially since experiment-based causal inference is usually not feasible for large-scale urban systems. From a macroscopic perspective, we test the simple hypothesis that the background natural and socioeconomic conditions of cities jointly affect their cooling capacity and benefit in both direct and indirect ways. To this end, we constructed a minimal structural equation model including only the most essential variables reflecting background climate (mean annual temperature and precipitation), topographic variation (elevation range), as well as gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and city area (see Methods; Fig.  4c ).

We found that the quantity of green spaces in a city (again, in proportion to its size) was positively correlated with GDP per capita and city area; wealthier cities have more green spaces. It is well known that wealth and green spaces are positively correlated within cities (the luxury effect) 40 , 46 ; our analysis shows that a similar luxury effect occurs among them at a global scale. In addition, larger cities often have proportionally more green spaces, an effect that may be due to the tendency for large cities (particularly in the US and Canada) to have lower population densities. Cities that were hotter and had more topographic variation tended to have fewer green spaces and those that were more humid tended to have more green spaces. Given that temperature and humidity are highly correlated with the geography of the Global South and Global North, it is difficult to know whether these effects are due to the direct effects of temperature and precipitation, for example, on the growth rate of vegetation and hence the transition of abandoned lots into green spaces, or are associated with historical, cultural and political differences that via various mechanisms correlate to climate. Our structural equation model explained only a small fraction of variation among cities in their cooling efficiency, which is to say the quality of their green space. Cooling efficiency was modestly influenced by background temperature and precipitation—the warmer a city, the greater the cooling efficiency in that city; conversely, the more humid a city the less the cooling efficiency of that city.

Our analyses suggested that the lower cooling adaptation capabilities of Global South cities can be explained by their lower quantity of green infrastructure and, to a much lesser extent, their weaker cooling efficiency (quality; Supplementary Fig.  2 ). These patterns appear to be in part structured by GDP, but are also associated with climatic conditions 39 , and other factors. A key question, unresolved by our work, is whether the climatic correlates of the size of green spaces in cities are due to the effects of climate per se or if they, instead, reflect correlates between contemporary climate and the social, cultural, and political histories of cities in the Global South 52 . Since urban planning has much inertia, especially in big cities, those choices might be correlated with climate because of the climatic correlates of political histories. It is also possible that these dynamics relate, in part, to the ways in which climate influences vegetation structure. However, this seems less likely given that under non-urban conditions vegetation cover (and hence cooling capacity) is normally positively correlated with mean annual temperature across the globe, opposite to our observed negative relationships for urban systems (Supplementary Fig.  9g ). Still, it is possible that increased temperatures in cities due to the urban heat island effects may lead to temperature-vegetation cover-cooling capacity relationships that differ from those in natural environments 53 , 54 . Indeed, a recent study found that climate warming will put urban forests at risk, and the risk is disproportionately higher in the Global South 55 .

Our model serves as a starting point for unraveling the mechanisms underlying global cooling inequality. We cannot rule out the possibility that other unconsidered factors correlated with the studied variables play important roles. We invite systematic studies incorporating detailed sociocultural and ecological variables to address this question across scales.

Potential of enhancing cooling and reducing inequality

Can we reduce the inequality in cooling capacity and benefits that we have discovered among the world’s largest cities? Nuanced assessments of the potential to improve cooling mitigation require comprehensive considerations of socioeconomic, cultural, and technological aspects of urban management and policy. It is likely that cities differ greatly in their capacity to implement cooling through green infrastructure, whether as a function of culture, governance, policy or some mix thereof. However, any practical attempts to achieve greater cooling will occur in the context of the realities of climate and existing land use. To understand these realities, we modeled the maximum additional cooling capacity that is possible in cities, given existing constraints. We assume that this capacity depends on the quality (cooling efficiency) and quantity of urban green infrastructure. Our approach provides a straightforward metric of the cooling that could be achieved if all parts of a city’s green infrastructure were to be enhanced systematically.

The positive outlook is that our analyses suggest a considerable potential of improving cooling capacity by optimizing urban green infrastructure. An obvious way is through increases in urban green infrastructure quantity. We employ an approach in which we consider each local climate zone 56 to have a maximum NDVI and cooling efficiency (see Methods). For a given local climate zone, the city with the largest NDVI values or cooling efficiency sets the regional upper bounds for urban green infrastructure quantities or quality that can be achieved. Notably, these maxima are below the maxima for forests or other non-urban spaces for the simple reason that, as currently imagined, cities must contain gray (non-green) spaces in the form of roads and buildings. In this context, we conduct a thought experiment. What if we could systematically increase NDVI of all grid cells in each city, per local climate zone type, to a level corresponding to the median NDVI of grid cells in that upper bound city while keeping cooling efficiency unchanged (see Methods). If we were able to achieve this goal, the cooling capacity of cities would increase by ~2.4 °C worldwide. The increase would be even greater, ~3.8°C, if the 90th percentile (within the reference maximum city) was reached (Fig.  5a ). The potential for cooling benefit to the average urban resident is similar to that of cooling capacity (Supplementary Fig.  10a ). There is also potential to reduce urban temperatures if we can enhance cooling efficiency. However, the benefits of increases in cooling efficiency are modest (~1.5 °C increases at the 90th percentile of regional upper bounds) when holding urban green infrastructure quantity constant. In theory, if we could maximize both quantity and cooling efficiency of urban green infrastructure (to 90th percentiles of their regional upper bounds respectively), we would yield increases in cooling capacity and benefit up to ~10 °C, much higher than enhancing green space area or cooling efficiency alone (Fig.  5a , Supplementary Fig.  10a ). Notably, such co-maximization of green space area and cooling efficiency would substantially reduce global inequality to Gini <0.1 (Fig.  5b , Supplementary Fig.  10b ). Our analyses thus provide an important suggestion that enhancing both green space quantity and quality can yield a synergistic effect leading to much larger gains than any single aspect alone.

a The potential of enhancing cooling capacity via either enhancing urban green infrastructure quality (i.e., cooling efficiency) while holding quantity (i.e., green space area) fixed (yellow), or enhancing quantity while holding quality fixed (blue) is much lower than that of enhancing both quantity and quality (green). The x-axis indicates the targets of enhancing urban green infrastructure quantity and/or quality relative to the 50–90th percentiles of NDVI or cooling efficiency, see Methods). The dashed horizontal lines indicate the median cooling capacity of current cities. Data are presented as median values with the colored bands corresponding to 25–75th percentiles. b The potential of reducing cooling capacity inequality is also higher when enhancing both urban green infrastructure quantity and quality. The Gini index weighted by population density is used to measure inequality. Similar results were found for cooling benefit (Supplementary Fig.  10 ).

Different estimates of cooling capacity potential may be reached based on varying estimates and assumptions regarding the maximum possible quantity and quality of urban green infrastructure. There is no single, simple way to make these estimates, especially considering the huge between-city differences in society, culture, and structure across the globe. Our example case (above) begins from the upper bound city’s median NDVI, taking into account different local climate zone types and background climate regions (regional upper bounds). This is based on the assumption that for cities within the same climate regions, their average green space quantity may serve as an attainable target. Still, urban planning is often made at the level of individual cities, often only implemented to a limited extent and made with limited consideration of cities in other regions and countries. A potentially more realistic reference may be taken from the existing green infrastructure (again, per local climate zone type) within each particular city itself (see Methods): if a city’s sparsely vegetated areas was systematically elevated to the levels of 50–90th percentiles of NDVI within their corresponding local climate zones within the city, cooling capacity would still increase, but only by 0.5–1.5 °C and with only slightly reduced inequalities among cities (Supplementary Fig.  11 ). This highlights that ambitious policies, inspired by the greener cities worldwide, are necessary to realize the large cooling potential in urban green infrastructure.

In summary, our results demonstrate clear inequality in the extent to which urban green infrastructure cools cities and their denizens between the Global North and South. Much attention has been paid to the global inequality of indoor heat adaptation arising from the inequality of resources (e.g., less affordable air conditioning and more frequent power shortages in the Global South) 36 , 57 , 58 , 59 . Our results suggest that the inequality in outdoor adaptation is particularly concerning, especially as urban populations in the Global South are growing rapidly and are likely to face the most severe future temperature extremes 60 .

Previous studies have been focusing on characterizing urban heat island effects, urban vegetation patterns, resident exposure, and cooling effects in particular cities 26 , 28 , 34 , 61 , regions 22 , 25 , 62 , or continents 32 , 44 , 63 . Recent studies start looking at global patterns with respect to cooling efficiency or green space exposure 35 , 45 , 64 , 65 . Our approach is one drawn from the fields of large-scale ecology and macroecology. This approach is complementary to and, indeed, can, in the future, be combined with (1) mechanism driven biophysical models 66 , 67 to predict the influence of the composition and climate of green spaces on their cooling efficiency, (2) social theory aimed at understanding the factors that govern the amount of green space in cities as well as the disparity among cities 68 , (3) economic models of the effects of policy changes on the amount of greenspace and even (4) artist-driven projects that seek to understand the ways in which we might reimagine future cities 69 . Our simple explanatory model is, ultimately, one lens on a complex, global phenomenon.

Our results convey some positive outlook in that there is considerable potential to strengthen the cooling capability of cities and to reduce inequalities in cooling capacities at the same time. Realizing this nature-based solution, however, will be challenging. First, enhancing urban green infrastructure requires massive investments, which are more difficult to achieve in Global South cities. Second, it also requires smart planning strategies and advanced urban design and greening technologies 37 , 70 , 71 , 72 . Spatial planning of urban green spaces needs to consider not only the cooling amelioration effect, but also their multifunctional aspects that involve multiple ecosystem services, mental health benefits, accessibility, and security 73 . In theory, a city can maximize its cooling while also maximizing density through the combination of high-density living, ground-level green spaces, and vertical and rooftop gardens (or even forests). In practice, the current cities with the most green spaces tend to be lower-density cities 74 (Supplementary Fig.  12 ). Still, innovation and implementation of new technologies that allow green spaces and high-density living to be combined have the potential to reduce or disconnect the negative relationship between green space area and population density 71 , 75 . However, this development has yet to be realized. Another dimension of green spaces that deserves more attention is the geography of green spaces relative to where people are concentrated within cities. A critical question is how best should we distribute green spaces within cities to maximize cooling efficiency 76 and minimize within-city cooling inequality towards social equity 77 ? Last but not least, it is crucial to design and manage urban green spaces to be as resilient as possible to future climate stress 78 . For many cities, green infrastructure is likely to remain the primary means people will have to rely on to mitigate the escalating urban outdoor heat stress in the coming decades 79 .

We used the world population data from the World’s Cities in 2018 Data Booklet 80 to select 502 major cities with population over 1 million people (see Supplementary Data  1 for the complete list of the studied cities). Cities are divided into the Global North and Global South based on the Human Development Index (HDI) from the Human Development Report 2019 81 . For each selected city, we used the 2018 Global Artificial Impervious Area (GAIA) data at 30 m resolution 82 to determine its geographic extent. The derived urban boundary polygons thus encompass a majority of the built-up areas and urban residents. In using this approach, rather than urban administrative boundaries, we can focus on the relatively densely populated areas where cooling mitigation is most needed, and exclude areas dominated by (semi) natural landscapes that may bias the subsequent quantifications of the cooling effect. Our analyses on the cooling effect were conducted at the 100 m spatial resolution using Landsat data and WorldPop Global Project Population Data of 2018 83 . In order to test for the robustness of the results to coarser spatial scales, we also repeated the analyses at 1 km resolution using MODIS data, which have been extensively used for quantifying urban heat island effects and cooling mitigation 44 , 45 , 51 . We discarded the five cities with sizes <30 km 2 as they were too small for us to estimate their cooling efficiency based on linear regression (see section below for details). We combined closely located cities that form contiguous urban areas or urban agglomerations, if their urban boundary polygons from GAIA merged (e.g., Phoenix and Mesa in the United States were combined). Our approach yielded 468 polygons, each representing a major urbanized area that were the basis for all subsequent analyses. Because large water bodies can exert substantial and confounding cooling effects, we excluded permanent water bodies including lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and oceans using the Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS) Land Cover data for 2018 at 10 m resolution 84 .

Quantifying the cooling effect

As a first step, we calculated cooling efficiency for each studied city within the GAIA-derived urban boundary. Cooling efficiency quantifies the extent to which a given area of green spaces in a city can reduce temperatures. It is a measure of the effectiveness (quality) of urban green spaces in terms of heat amelioration. Cooling efficiency is typically measured by calculating the slope of the relationship between remotely-sensed land surface temperature (LST) and vegetation cover through ordinary least square regression 42 , 44 , 45 . It is known that cooling efficiency varies between cities. Influencing factors might include background climate 29 , species composition 30 , 85 , landscape configuration 28 , topography 86 , proximity to large water bodies 33 , 87 , urban morphology 88 , and city management practices 31 . However, the mechanism underlying the global pattern of cooling efficiency remains unclear.

We used Landsat satellite data provided by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to calculate the cooling efficiency of each studied city. We used the cloud-free Landsat 8 Level 2 LST and NDVI data. For each city we calculated the mean LST in each month of 2018 to identify the hottest month, and then derived the hottest month LST; we used the cloud-free Landsat 8 data to calculate the mean NDVI for the hottest month correspondingly.

We quantified cooling efficiency for different local climate zones 56 separately for each city, to account for within-city variability of thermal environments. To this end, we used the Copernicus Global Land Service data (CGLS) 84 and Global Human Settlement Layers (GHSL) Built-up height data 89 of 2018 at the 100 m resolution to identify five types of local climate zones: non-tree vegetation (shrubs, herbaceous vegetation, and cultivated vegetation according to the CGLS classification system), low-rise buildings (built up and bare according to the CGLS classification system, with building heights ≤10 m according to the GHSL data), medium-high-rise buildings (built up and bare areas with building heights >10 m), open tree cover (open forest with tree cover 15–70% according to the CGLS system), and closed tree cover (closed forest with tree cover >70%).

For each local climate zone type in each city, we constructed a regression model with NDVI as the predictor variable and LST as the response variable (using the ordinary least square method). We took into account the potential confounding factors including topographic elevation (derived from MERIT DEM dataset 90 ), building height (derived from the GHSL dataset 89 ), and distance to water bodies (derived from the GSHHG dataset 91 ), the model thus became: LST ~ NDVI + topography + building height + distance to water. Cooling efficiency was calculated as the absolute value of the regression coefficient of NDVI, after correcting for those confounding factors. To account for the multi-collinearity issue, we conducted variable selection based on the variance inflation factor (VIF) to achieve VIF < 5. Before the analysis, we discarded low-quality Landsat pixels, and filtered out the pixels with NDVI < 0 (normally less than 1% in a single city). Cooling efficiency is known to be influenced by within-city heterogeneity 92 , 93 , and, as a result, might sometimes better fit non-linear relationships at local scales 65 , 76 . However, our central aim is to assess global cooling inequality based on generalized relationships that fit the majority of global cities. Previous studies have shown that linear relationships can do this job 42 , 44 , 45 , therefore, here we used linear models to assess cooling efficiency.

As a second step, we calculated the cooling capacity of each city. Cooling capacity is a positive function of the magnitude of cooling efficiency and the proportional area of green spaces in a city and is calculated based on NDVI and the derived cooling efficiency (Eq.  1 , Supplementary Fig.  13 ):

where CC lcz and CE lcz are the cooling capacity and cooling efficiency for a given local climate zone type in a city, respectively; NDVI i is the mean NDVI for 100-m grid cell i ; NDVI min is the minimum NDVI across the city; and n is the total number of grid cells within the local climate zone. Local cooling capacity for each grid cell i (Fig.  1 , Supplementary Fig.  7 ) can be derived in this way as well (Supplementary Fig.  13 ). For a particular city, cooling capacity may be dependent on the spatial configuration of its land use/cover 28 , 94 , but here we condensed cooling capacity to city average (Eq.  2 ), thus did not take into account these local-scale factors.

where CC is the average cooling capacity of a city; n lcz is the number of grid cells of the local climate zone; m is the total number of grid cells within the whole city.

As a third step, we calculated the cooling benefit realized by an average urban resident (cooling benefit in short) in each city. Cooling benefit depends not only on the cooling capacity of a city, but also on where people live within a city relative to greener or grayer areas of the city. For example, cooling benefits in a city might be low even if the cooling capacity is high if the green parts and the dense-population parts of a city are inversely correlated. Here, we are calculating these averages while aware that in any particular city the exposure of a particular person will depend on the distribution of green spaces in a city, and the occupation, movement trajectories of a person, etc. On the scale of a city, we calculated cooling benefit following a previous study 35 , that is, simply adding a weight term of population size per 100-m grid cell into cooling capacity in Eq. ( 1 ):

Where CB lcz is the cooling benefit of a given local climate zone type in a specific city, pop i is the number of people within grid cell i , \(\overline{{pop}}\) is the mean population of the city.

Where CB is the average cooling benefit of a city. The population data were obtained from the 100-m resolution WorldPop Global Project Population Data of 2018 83 . Local cooling benefit for a given grid cell i can be calculated in a similar way, i.e., local cooling capacity multiplied by a weight term of local population density relative to mean population density. Local cooling benefits were mapped for example cities for the purpose of illustrating the effect of population spatial distribution (Fig.  1 , Supplementary Fig.  7 ), but their patterns were not examined here.

Based on the aforementioned three key variables quantified at 100 m grid cells, we conducted multivariate analyses to examine if and to what extent cooling efficiency and cooling benefit are shaped by essential natural and socioeconomic factors, including background climate (mean annual temperature from ECMWF ERA5 dataset 95 and precipitation from TerraClimate dataset 96 ), topography (elevation range 90 ), and GDP per capita 97 , with city size (geographic extent) corrected for. We did not include humidity because it is strongly correlated with temperature and precipitation, causing serious multi-collinearity problems. We used piecewise structural equation modeling to test the direct effects of these factors and indirect effects via influencing cooling efficiency and vegetation cover (Fig.  4c , Supplementary Fig.  8c ). To account for the potential influence of spatial autocorrelation, we used spatially autoregressive models (SAR) to test for the robustness of the observed effects of natural and socioeconomic factors on cooling capacity and benefit (Supplementary Fig.  14 ).

Testing for robustness

We conducted the following additional analyses to test for robustness. We obtained consistent results from these robustness analyses.

(1) We looked at the mean hottest-month LST and NDVI within 3 years (2017-2019) to check the consistency between the results based on relatively short (1 year) vs. long (3-year average) time periods (Supplementary Fig.  15 ).

(2) We carried out the approach at a coarser spatial scale of 1 km, using MODIS-derived NDVI and LST, as well as the population data 83 in the hottest month of 2018. In line with our finer-scale analysis of Landsat data, we selected the hottest month and excluded low-quality grids affected by cloud cover and water bodies 98 (water cover > 20% in 1 × 1 km 2 grid cells) of MODIS LST, and calculated the mean NDVI for the hottest month. We ultimately obtained 441 cities (or urban agglomerations) for analysis. At the 1 km resolution, some local climate zone types would yield insufficient samples for constructing cooling efficiency models. Therefore, instead of identifying local climate zone explicitly, we took an indirect approach to account for local climate confounding factors, that is, we constructed a multiple regression model for a whole city incorporating the hottest-month local temperature 95 , precipitation 96 , and humidity (based on NASA FLDAS dataset 99 ), albedo (derived from the MODIS MCD43A3 product 100 ), aerosol loading (derived from the MODIS MCD19A2 product 101 ), wind speed (based on TerraClimate dataset 96 ), topography elevation 90 , distance to water 91 , urban morphology (building height 102 ), and human activity intensity (VIIRS nighttime light data as a proxy indicator 103 ). We used the absolute value of the linear regression coefficient of NDVI as the cooling efficiency of the whole city (model: LST ~ NDVI + temperature + precipitation + humidity + distance to water + topography + building height + albedo + aerosol + wind speed + nighttime light), and calculated cooling capacity and cooling benefit based on the same method. Variable selection was conducted using the criterion of VIF < 5.

Our results indicated that MODIS-based cooling capacity and cooling benefit are significantly correlated with the Landsat-based counterparts (Supplementary Fig.  16 ); importantly, the gap between the Global South and North cities is around two-fold, close to the result from the Landsat-based result (Supplementary Fig.  17 ).

(3) For the calculation of cooling benefit, we considered different spatial scales of human accessibility to green spaces: assuming the population in each 100 × 100 m 2 grid cell could access to green spaces within neighborhoods of certain extents, we calculated cooling benefit by replacing NDVI i in Eq. ( 3 ) with mean NDVI within the 300 × 300 m 2 and 500 × 500 m 2 extents centered at the focal grid cell (Supplementary Fig.  18 ).

(4) Considering cities may vary in minimum NDVI, we assessed if this variation could affect resulting cooling capacity patterns. To this end, we calculated the cooling capacity for each studied city using NDVI = 0 as the reference (i.e., using NDVI = 0 instead of minimum NDVI in Supplementary Fig.  13b ), and correlated it with that using minimum NDVI as the reference (Supplementary Fig.  19 ).

Quantifying between-city inequality

Inequalities in access to the benefits of green spaces in cities exist within cities, as is increasingly well-documented 104 . Here, we focus instead on the inequalities among cities. We used the Gini coefficient to measure the inequality in cooling capacity and cooling benefit between all studied cities across the globe as well as between Global North or South cities. We calculated Gini using the population-density weighted method (Fig.  5b ), as well as the unweighted and population-size weighted methods (Supplementary Fig.  20 ).

Estimating the potential for more effective and equal cooling amelioration

We estimated the potential of enhancing cooling amelioration based on the assumptions that urban green space quality (cooling efficiency) and quantity (NDVI) can be increased to different levels, and that relative spatial distributions of green spaces and population can be idealized (so that their spatial matches can maximize cooling benefit). We assumed that macro-climate conditions act as the constraints of vegetation cover and cooling efficiency. We calculated the 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th, and 90th percentiles of NDVI within each type of local climate zone of each city. For a given local climate zone type, we obtained the city with the highest NDVI per percentile value as the regional upper bounds of urban green infrastructure quantity. The regional upper bounds of cooling efficiency are derived in a similar way. For each local climate zone in a city, we generated a potential NDVI distribution where all grid cells reach the regional upper bound values for the 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th, or 90th percentile of urban green space quantity or quality, respectively. NDVI values below these percentiles were increased, whereas those above these percentiles remained unchanged. The potential estimates are essentially dependent on the references, i.e., the optimal cooling efficiency and NDVI that a given city can reach. However, such references are obviously difficult to determine, because complex natural and socioeconomic conditions could play important roles in determining those cooling optima, and the dominant factors are unknown at a global scale. We employed the simplifying assumption that background climate could act as an essential constraint according to our results. We therefore used the Köppen climate classification system 105 to determine the reference separately in each climate region (tropical, arid, temperate, and continental climate regions were involved for all studied cities).

We calculated potential cooling capacity and cooling benefit based on these potential NDVI maps (Fixed cooling efficiency in Fig.  5 ). We then calculated the potentials if cooling efficiency of each city can be enhanced to 50–90th percentile across all urban local climate zones within the corresponding biogeographic region (Fixed green space area in Fig.  5 ). We also calculated the potentials if both NDVI and cooling efficiency were enhanced (Enhancing both in Fig.  5) to a certain corresponding level (i.e., i th percentile NDVI +  i th percentile cooling efficiency). We examined if there are additional effects of idealizing relative spatial distributions of urban green spaces and humans on cooling benefits. To this end, the pixel values of NDVI or population amount remained unchanged, but their one-to-one correspondences were based on their ranking: the largest population corresponds to the highest NDVI, and so forth. Under each scenario, we calculated cooling capacity and cooling benefit for each city, and the between-city inequality was measured by the Gini coefficient.

We used the Google Earth Engine to process the spatial data. The statistical analyses were conducted using R v4.3.3 106 , with car v3.1-2 107 , piecewiseSEM v2.1.2 108 , and ineq v0.2-13 109 packages. The global maps of cooling were created using the ArcGIS v10.3 software.

Reporting summary

Further information on research design is available in the  Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article.

Data availability

City population statistics data is collected from the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations ( https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/worlds-cities-2018-data-booklet ). Global North-South division is based on Human Development Report 2019 which from United Nations Development Programme ( https://hdr.undp.org/content/human-development-report-2019 ). Global urban boundaries from GAIA data are available from Star Cloud Data Service Platform ( https://data-starcloud.pcl.ac.cn/resource/14 ) . Global water data is derived from 2018 Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS 100-m) data ( https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/COPERNICUS_Landcover_100m_Proba-V-C3_Global ), European Space Agency (ESA) WorldCover 10 m 2020 product ( https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/ESA_WorldCover_v100 ), and GSHHG (A Global Self-consistent, Hierarchical, High-resolution Geography Database) at https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/pwessel/gshhg/ . Landsat 8 LST and NDVI data with 30 m resolution are available at  https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/LANDSAT_LC08_C02_T1_L2 . Land surface temperature (LST) data with 1 km from MODIS Aqua product (MYD11A1) is available at https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/MODIS_061_MYD11A1 . NDVI (1 km) dataset from MYD13A2 is available at https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/MODIS_061_MYD13A2 . Population data (100 m) is derived from WorldPop ( https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/WorldPop_GP_100m_pop ). Local climate zones are also based on 2018 CGLS data ( https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/COPERNICUS_Landcover_100m_Proba-V-C3_Global ), and built-up height data is available from Global Human Settlement Layers (GHSL, 100 m) ( https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/JRC_GHSL_P2023A_GHS_BUILT_H ). Temperature data is calculated from ERA5-Land Monthly Aggregated dataset ( https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/ECMWF_ERA5_LAND_MONTHLY_AGGR ). Precipitation and wind data are calculated from TerraClimate (Monthly Climate and Climatic Water Balance for Global Terrestrial Surfaces, University of Idaho) ( https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/IDAHO_EPSCOR_TERRACLIMATE ). Humidity data is calculated from Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Land Data Assimilation System ( https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/NASA_FLDAS_NOAH01_C_GL_M_V001 ). Topography data from MERIT DEM (Multi-Error-Removed Improved-Terrain DEM) product is available at https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/MERIT_DEM_v1_0_3 . GDP from Gross Domestic Product and Human Development Index dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dk1j0 . VIIRS nighttime light data is available at https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/NOAA_VIIRS_DNB_MONTHLY_V1_VCMSLCFG . City building volume data from Global 3D Building Structure (1 km) is available at https://doi.org/10.34894/4QAGYL . Albedo data is derived from the MODIS MCD43A3 product ( https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/MODIS_061_MCD43A3 ), and aerosol data is derived from the MODIS MCD19A2 product ( https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/MODIS_061_MCD19A2_GRANULES ). All data used for generating the results are publicly available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.26340592.v1 .

Code availability

The codes used for data collection and analyses are publicly available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.26340592.v1 .

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the data providers. We thank Marten Scheffer for valuable discussion. C.X. is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 32061143014). J.-C.S. was supported by Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO), funded by Danish National Research Foundation (grant DNRF173), and his VILLUM Investigator project “Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World”, funded by VILLUM FONDEN (grant 16549). W.Z. was supported by the National Science Foundation of China through Grant No. 42225104. T.M.L. and J.F.A. are supported by the Open Society Foundations (OR2021-82956). W.J.R. is supported by the funding received from Roger Worthington.

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Y.L., S.N.T., R.R.D., and C.X. designed the study. Y.L. collected the data, generated the code, performed the analyses, and produced the figures with inputs from J.-C.S., W.Z., K.Z., J.F.A., T.M.L., W.J.R., Z.Y., S.N.T., R.R.D. and C.X. Y.L., S.N.T., R.R.D. and C.X. wrote the first draft with inputs from J.-C.S., W.Z., K.Z., J.F.A., T.M.L., W.J.R., and Z.Y. All coauthors interpreted the results and revised the manuscript.

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Urban Regeneration: A Case of Cheonggyecheon River

Project Location: Seoul, South Korea Timeline: 2002 -2005 (3 years and 6 months) Architects: Mikyoung Kim Design Client: City of Seoul

Seoul , the capital of South Korea, is confronted with many significant issues. The effects of overpopulation and urbanization have resulted in a multitude of challenges, including scarcities in housing, transportation, and parking facilities, as well as the worsening of pollution levels and the unsustainable exploitation of resources. It is always gridlocked. Over a decade, urban and industrial development suffocated the remaining traces of nature in the city’s heart, notably in the congested and flat CBD.

Hoping to spur economic growth by providing new recreation options to residents and solve the city’s chronic runoff problems, The Seoul Metropolitan Government decided to do something bold. An initiative to transform the urban environment of the massive arterial highway by removing it and replacing it with a long, meandering park and stormwater mitigation system.

Degradation of the River

The Cheonggyecheon River is situated amid a historically significant neighbourhood. The first deterioration of the site can be traced back to the 15th century when many factors contributed to its decline. These factors include the expansion and depth of the river channel, the building of a stone and wood embankment, the use of the watercourse as a means of waste disposal, and the heightened sedimentation caused by the deforestation of the surrounding regions. Despite undergoing continuous dredging and modifications throughout the twentieth century, the river channel in the 1950s remained mostly a seasonal stream used by individuals for laundry purposes and as a recreational space for children.

As Seoul underwent a gradual transformation from a mostly rural area to a sprawling East Asian city, the Cheonggyecheon, referred to as the “clear valley stream,” deteriorated into a polluted waterway. The primary function of the stream in question was to serve as Seoul’s central sewage and drainage system, primarily designed to mitigate the risk of flooding.

By the year 1970, the area next to the river was characterized by the presence of slums. Additionally, the quality of the water in the river deteriorated with time due to a series of human interventions, including the process of channelization followed by the application of a concrete layer.

With the rapid progression of urbanization and industry, along with the widespread adoption of automobiles, the riverbed transformed, being repurposed into a 6-kilometre roadway. Above this roadway, a 5.8-kilometre elevated highway was constructed, boasting six lanes to accommodate the increasing vehicular traffic. Before the process of restoration began, the daily volume of vehicles that passed through this particular section amounted to almost 168,000. Among them, a significant proportion of 62.5% constituted vehicles engaged in traffic.

The ramifications of the very crowded transportation system along Cheonggye Street have become more severe. The levels of air pollution, namely criterion pollutants, were found to be much higher than the permitted thresholds. Additionally, the pollution caused by nitrogen oxide is above the established environmental air quality guideline for the city of Seoul. In addition, the concentrations of benzene, a volatile organic compound (VOC) known for its carcinogenic properties, were found to be elevated.

According to a health awareness study conducted among those living or employed near Cheonggyecheon, it was observed that the prevalence of respiratory disorders was more than twice as high compared to individuals residing in other geographical regions (SDI, 2003A). In conjunction with atmospheric pollution, the noise pollution observed in this particular region exceeded the prescribed benchmarks for commercial zones, hence posing a significant impediment to the creation of a desirable residential and occupational milieu.

In the year 2000, an engineering study was conducted which revealed the presence of structural deficiencies in the aforementioned roadways, hence highlighting the imperative need for a significant rehabilitation endeavour. The degradation and contamination of the Cheonggyecheon River stream may be attributed to the processes of urbanization, transportation , and industrial activities.

The objectives established for the urban revitalization initiative included the restoration of Cheonggyecheon’s natural ecosystem and the development of a public space that prioritizes human needs and experiences. 

The proposed project included a range of objectives, including the restoration and landscaping of the stream, the establishment of measures to ensure water resource sustainability, the implementation of sewage treatment systems, the management of traffic flow, the construction of bridges across the river, the preservation and restoration of historical assets, and the effective resolution of social problems. 

In addition to the aforementioned, the plan was formulated with the objectives of the restoration of cultural assets, as well as the conservation of all dug heritage pieces throughout the building process. Enhance the overall quality of air, water, and living conditions. The objective was also to establish a connection between the two geographically divided areas due to the river.

In the year 2003, the river underwent a process of re-exposure and was subsequently designated as the central element of a broader initiative aimed at revitalizing the urban environment. The rerouting of traffic, construction of bridges across the river, establishment of public parks and recreational areas, and renovation of nearby places of historical and cultural significance were undertaken. The enhancement of environmental circumstances resulted in the establishment of a focal point that has value in historical context and possesses aesthetic allure.

The waste that was generated as a result of the destruction was subjected to recycling processes and then used again. The process of urban redevelopment included the transformation of the site into a human-centric and ecologically conscious area, with a shoreline and pathways that run alongside the stream. Embankments were constructed to mitigate the most severe floods that the city may experience during the next two centuries. A total of 13.5 meters were designated to accommodate walkways, two-lane unidirectional roadways, and loading/unloading zones situated on both sides of the stream. A whole sum of 22 bridges was constructed over the Cheonggyecheon, including 5 bridges designated for pedestrian use and 17 bridges designed for motor vehicle traffic.

The stream that has been restored can be accessed from a total of 17 different sites. Terraces and lower-level pavements were constructed along both the top and lower segments of the stream, while the middle part was specifically planned to serve as an environmentally sustainable area. The incorporation of river parks and public art in many sites was undertaken to establish a platform for hosting performances and cultural events, while simultaneously augmenting the total capacity for public engagement and pleasure within the newly developed area.

The process of enhancing the aesthetic appeal of historic streets and structures was undertaken, with particular attention given to the restoration of the Gwangtonggyo Bridge. Originally constructed in 1410 to span the Cheonggyecheon Stream, this bridge was meticulously restored to its former condition, incurring a substantial expenditure of more than $5.9 million.

• Amber, P. (2011) ChonGae Canal Restoration Project / mikyoung Kim design, ArchDaily. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/174242/chongae-canal-restoration-project-mikyoung-kim-design .
• Case study: Cheonggyecheon; Seoul, Korea (2017) Global Designing Cities Initiative. Available at: https://globaldesigningcities.org/publication/global-street-design-guide/streets/special-conditions/elevated-structure-removal/case-study-cheonggyecheon-seoul-korea/ .
• Cheonggyecheon (2015) Photography Life. Available at: https://photographylife.com/photo-spots/cheonggyecheon .
• Cheonggyecheon Stream restoration project (2011) Landscapeperformance.org. Available at: https://www.landscapeperformance.org/case-study-briefs/cheonggyecheon-stream-restoration-project .
• McAskie, L. (2021) From emissions to Edens: Our top 5 car-free urban transformations, Citychangers.org – Home Base for Urban Shapers. CityChangers.org. Available at: https://citychangers.org/top-5-car-free-urban-transformations/?cn-reloaded=1 .
• River restoration and conservation (no date) Coolgeography.co.uk. Available at: https://www.coolgeography.co.uk/advanced/River_Restoration_Conservation.php .
• Seoul (no date) Worldbank.org. Available at: https://urban-regeneration.worldbank.org/Seoul .
• South Korea: Restoration of the cheonggyecheon river in downtown Seoul (no date) Ser-rrc.org. Available at: https://www.ser-rrc.org/project/south-korea-restoration-of-the-cheonggyecheon-river-in-downtown-seoul/ .
• studioTECHNE (2018) Field notes: Tom goes to Seoul, studio TECHNE | architects. Available at: https://www.technearchitects.com/blogs/2018/12/12/toms-field-notes-from-seoul (Accessed: August 6, 2023).

A Postgraduate student of Architecture, developing an ability of Design led through Research. A perceptive observer who strives to get inspired and, in doing so, become one. Always intrigued by the harmonious relationships between people and space and the juxtaposition of the tangible and intangible in architecture.

Renovation of Castle Grad by ARREA architecture

Colour and Architecture in Wes Anderson’s Cinematic World

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Case studies tagged with Urban Regeneration

Sweet city: facing climate change and biodiversity loss in urban costa rica.

Sweet City aims to create the conditions required to improve the quality of life of all the inhabitants of the territory, humans and other species alike, e.g. pollinators, by providing better conditions for them to thrive and, as a result, obtaining a more biodiverse, comfortable, clean, colorful and better organised urban environment. The aim is to restore the balance between urban and natural areas, preserve and increase biodiversity in the city and manage climate change.

• Read more about Sweet City: Facing Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss in Urban Costa Rica

The Portable Modular Natural Biological System, PM-NBSTM developed by AYALA WATER & ECOLOGY

To improve and validate a portable, modular, enery-free, decentralized water treatment system,  the PM-NBSTM, to remediate source water to high quality for resuse, filling a major gap in small agglomerations and remote areas where good quality waters are needed and no other solution is feasible

• Read more about The Portable Modular Natural Biological System, PM-NBSTM developed by AYALA WATER & ECOLOGY

Bristol Harbourside

To regenerate a brownfield site into a vibrant public space and reconnect the city with its waterfront, integrating art and ecology.

• Read more about Bristol Harbourside

Bath Quays Waterside Park

To create a riverside park, reconnecting the city centre to the riverside and to mitigate flooding for more than 100 existing properties.

• Read more about Bath Quays Waterside Park

Integrated green grey infrastructure (IGGI) - Ecologically enhanced sea defence

Ecological enhancement of hard coastal structures. Project aimed to mitigate expected habitat losses associated with improving  coastal defences for both the natural substrate & pre-existing defences within Natural 2000 site, & minimise future habitat losses due to sea level rise & coastal squeeze.

• Read more about Integrated green grey infrastructure (IGGI) - Ecologically enhanced sea defence

Vingis and Verkiu parks in Vilnius, Lithuania (URBANGAIA project)

The aim of the project is to develop realistic indicators to evaluate, manage and develop performant Green and Blue infrastructure (GBIs) in cities and intensively managed landscapes. UrbanGaia explicitly focusses on analysis of ecological and socio-economic features of the many existing GBIs within a place-based and socio-ecological research framework. The project consists of three main approaches which converge in a transdisciplinary analysis of GBI performance: ecological science, political economic analysis and stakeholder co-creation.

• Read more about Vingis and Verkiu parks in Vilnius, Lithuania (URBANGAIA project)

Yerevan-Nature-Based Solution: A GREEN WALL FOR KINDERGARTEN

The described situation was an opportunity for the nature based solutions (green wall creation) implementation. Particularly, based on the scientific data available from more than 160 Yerevan kindergartens specific one was identified and selected ensuring the maximum benefits for the kindergarten territory, its sounding and children’s health.

The testing site - kindergarten was built in former Soviet Union period and did not underwent any reconstruction action. Due to its spatial location the kindergarten is...

• Read more about Yerevan-Nature-Based Solution: A GREEN WALL FOR KINDERGARTEN

Operatie STEENBREEK

Operatie Steenbreek  is a foundation that organizes awareness raising campaigns and offers assistance with regards to greening private gardens. Many gardens and streets in the Netherlands are covered with tiles that cannot absorp the rainwater from heavy rainfall.

The idea behind the initiative is to encourage citizens to remove the tiles and stones from their gardens/backyards and replace it with grass, plants and trees for better drainage and to increase the biodiversity.

Thanks to an app., citizens can be adviced and exchange plants with neighbours. Citizens can...

• Read more about Operatie STEENBREEK

Basel, Switzerland: Green roofs : Combining mitigation and adaptation on measures

By 2100, under a high greenhouse emissions scenario, the temperature is projected to increase by about 4.5 ºC in comparison to the 1990s. This means that every second summer will be as hot or even hotter than the temperatures reached during the 2003 heat wave which caused severe loss of life across Europe. Extreme precipitation events are likely to increase in frequency and severity. Green roofs were found to offer opportunities to combine energy saving, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and biodiversity objectives. In densely built-up areas where providing extensive parks and...

• Read more about Basel, Switzerland: Green roofs : Combining mitigation and adaptation on measures

Managing urban Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure to increase city resilience in Ghent (UrbanGaia project)

The aim is to develop a realistic framework of indicators to evaluate, manage and develop performant Urban Green-Blue Infrastructure (U-GBI) in cities and intensively managed landscapes. UrbanGaia explicitly focusses on analysis of ecological and socio-economic features of the many existing GBIs. The evaluation of one the green axis of the ecological network in Ghent will serve as a case study for the framework of indicators. Furthermore, policy, governance and management practices of U-GBI are analyzed to identify innovative approaches to GBI implementation and usage.

• Read more about Managing urban Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure to increase city resilience in Ghent (UrbanGaia project)

Managing urban Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure to increase city resilience in Coimbra (UrbanGaia project)

The aim is to develop realistic indicators to evaluate, manage and develop performant GBIs in cities and intensively managed landscapes. UrbanGaia explicitly focusses on analysis of ecological and socio-economic features of the many existing GBIs within a place-based and socio-ecological research framework. The project consists of three main approaches which converge in a transdisciplinary analysis of GBI performance: ecological science, political economic analysis and stakeholder co-creation.

• Read more about Managing urban Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure to increase city resilience in Coimbra (UrbanGaia project)

Quito: Urban Agriculture as Nature Based Solution for facing Climate Change and Food Sovereignty

The project aims to tackle climate change, poverty and food provision, by supporting urban gardens on public or private land with community participation. The aims being food security and sovereignty, environmental management, employment and income improvement, social inclusion, sustainability and resilience.

• Read more about Quito: Urban Agriculture as Nature Based Solution for facing Climate Change and Food Sovereignty

Let's Crop the Diversity (LCD)

• Regenerate abandoned, unused and/or under-used spaces in densely urbanized areas
• Promote innovative agricultural practices
• Involvement of citizens and marginalized social classes (Social benefits)

“Let’s Crop the Diversity” (LCD) aims to redevelop urban spaces through the coproduction of solutions based on nature (NbS) to promote resilience and environmental quality of the geographical areas of intervention.

The goal of this project is developing an Urban Agricultural System that, thanks to the...

• Read more about Let's Crop the Diversity (LCD)

Filwood Park Development and Green Business Centre

To regenerate a brown site to develop 150 new homes, an improved park area and a BREEAM outstanding green business park. To deliver high quality jobs, family housing and a better green space.

• Read more about Filwood Park Development and Green Business Centre

Urban Food Forest St. Urbanus

A Food Forest is an artificial human designed forest that predominantly consists of edible plants and fruit-bearing bushes and trees.

• Read more about Urban Food Forest St. Urbanus

Nature-based solutions for improving well-being in urban areas in Sheffield, United Kingdom

This case study examines in particular the interface between four sets of plans and strategies, providing important context for further examination of meso- and micro-scale interventions covered in subsequent sections. This case also touches on other formally adopted plans and strategies only in relation to the above meso- and micro- scale initiatives, in an attempt to better understand contexts.

• Read more about Nature-based solutions for improving well-being in urban areas in Sheffield, United Kingdom

eKhaya : an urban regeneration project in Johannesburg, South Africa

Johannesburg

Main actors

City Government, Private Sector, Community / Citizen Group, Public Utility

Project area

Neighborhood or district

Ongoing since 2004

Through community mobilization, the eKhaya neighbourhood regeneration program has influenced the re-development of other declining areas in the City of Johannesburg.

eKhaya is a residential inner-city neighbourhood in Hillbrow, a district of Johannesburg.  Hillbrow is historically known for high levels of unemployment, poverty, crime and population density. In 2004 eKhaya was designated as a Residential City Improvement District (RCID) and a Neighborhood Improvement Program was implemented with the support of the City of Johannesburg and The Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC) together with other stakeholders including property management companies, property owners, property caretakers and tenants. The project demonstrates a bottom-up, community-led response to urban degeneration that puts emphasis on social capital as an essential element of urban regeneration.

This case study was contributed from the UCLG Learning Team .

Peer-Learning Note #21 on Vital Neighborhoods in Metropolitan Cities

Sustainable Development Goals

The district of Hillbrow was established as a residential extension to Johannesburg in the late 19th century. It was identified as an entry point neighbourhood for Immigrants due to its favourable, central location. During the 1950s and 1960s, a property boom led to extensive high-rise building developments in the area, making it only second to Hong Kong in terms of residential density at that time.

In the 1970s Hillbrow was a prosperous, designated whites-only area.  In 1978, under Apartheid, the Rental Control Act was lifted and landlords could now charge new tenants market rents, this resulted in a massive exodus of European migrants, the beginning of “white flight” from the city. The escalating violence in other townships of Johannesburg, together with the abolition of the Rental Control Act, led many colored and Indian people to move to Hillbrow. By 1980, the racial composition of the district had changed, leading the City of Johannesburg administration to declare Hillbrow a “gray area”, where people of different ethnicities lived together.  Rising rents forced tenants to sublet, causing over-crowding in poorly maintained buildings.

Subsequently, Hillbrow suffered from urban degeneration, over-population, unemployment, poverty, drugs, homicides and violence combined with many derelict buildings and by the 1990s the district was classified as an urban slum.

The objectives of the eKhaya Neighbourhood Improvement Program include:

• Improving the living environment
• Increasing social housing programs, systems and support
• Activating local government interventions in the public realm (streets, alleyways, etc.)
• Attracting private sector investment in building and management services
• Changing resident perception of the area

By initiating the Neighborhood Improvement Program in 2004, The City of Johannesburg administration sought to dispel the notion that Hillbrow, and in particular eKaya, as a violent, no-go area by creating a liveable neighbourhood characterised by safety, cleanliness and friendliness, the three principles underpinning the initiative.

Beyond changes to the physical improvement of the area, the project sought to break the fear associated with “grey areas”. From the outset, the initiative used social capital as the basis of transformation and physical regeneration . Social capital was promoted by bringing together different stakeholders– property caretakers, for-profit and not-for-profit property owners, tenants and the city administrators – and encouraging them talk to one another on a regular basis, creating positive relationships.

The first critical phase placed emphasis on community mobilization . Following the purchase of properties by the Johannesburg Housing Company and Trafalgar Property Management, JHC’s housing consultant and community organiser initiated the ‘Know Your Neighbourhood’ campaign with the help of property caretakers. The cost for this phase was approximately ZAR 500,000 (approximately USD 35,000).

Aimed at breaking down barriers and fostering familiarisation among residents and stakeholders, the campaign involved neighbourhood scanning in the form of walkabouts. This led to active mobilisation of the housing managers and/or property caretakers around building issues, and the establishment of a housing manager forum . Following the mobilisation of the key stakeholders, primarily building managers – who identified crime, grime and violent New Years’ Eve celebrations as the immediate challenges – a voluntary association was set up and an executive committee was elected. As a result of these steps, property owners agreed to the payment of monthly levies of ZAR 24 (USD 1,70) to mitigate the challenges identified . The successful mobilisation of property owners generated a monthly income of ZAR 6400 (USD 450).

The second phase emphasized ‘ bottom-up physical regeneration’ . The monthly levies from the property owners enabled the eKhaya executive committee to introduce a security and street cleaning project called ‘Our Clean eKhaya Neighbourhood’ by contracting Bad Boy’z Security (a private security services provider) to work with Pikitup (a city refuse removal institution) – to clean the streets around member buildings. The levies also facilitated the start of the public space upgrading and management, which was supported by public agencies including the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA). The first public spaces to be upgraded were derelict pavements and the grimy sanitary lanes, were cleaned and made secure.

The third phase involved community development and further attempts to foster the notion of friendliness in the eKhaya neighbourhood and the Hillbrow district. This was accomplished through social cohesion programmes such as the annual children’s program, the eKhaya Street Soccer concept, and the eKhaya Kidz’ Day event, which were largely driven by the precinct’s property caretakers.

The lead agencies for the project are The City of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Housing Company. The City of Johannesburg is responsible for capital investment in streets, lighting, lane upgrades and the renovation and upgrades of the eKhaya park and other public spaces. The Johannesburg Housing Company and Trafalgar Properties provided the seed funding as well as providing administration and general logistics support. Membership levy fees also contribute to the ongoing upkeep on buildings.

Project activities such as children’s recreational and social cohesion programmes all require some level of resourcing.  Generally, these are financed from a combination of other sources:

• sponsorship by way of cash or in-kind support external grant fund raising including from the municipality
• contribution from service providers
• volunteer work from people involved in activities
• tenant and member fund-raising activities
• small entrance fee for participation

The eKhaya project has helped to achieve the following outcomes:

• regeneration of the physical quality of the neighbourhood
• increase in the sense of security and wellbeing of its residents
• generation of increased private and public investment in the area
• stimulation of social cohesion and positive community involvement
• making the eKhaya neighbourhood a positive-place-to-live for tenants

After years of extensive mediation and lobbying with the city administration, a site once abandoned to drugs and crime was reclaimed and upgraded into a recreational space for children , named eKhaya Park. The city administration invested ZAR 7 million (USD 500,000) in the park and provides on-going maintenance and gardening services.

‘Our Healthy eKhaya’ and ‘Safe New Year’ campaigns, largely driven by the property caretakers, involve the display of posters discouraging violent and chaotic behaviour. This has resulted in peaceful festive celebrations in the area since 2004, and residents now take more ownership of internal and external spaces.

Businesses and retail franchises are slowly returning to the area and will provide employment opportunities moving forward.

The implementation of the eKhaya project has led to a significant drop in crime and grime , both within and outside eKhaya member buildings, and has created a more liveable environment. In a 2016 survey on the impact for tenants, the general response was that eKhaya had positively impacted on their quality of life and livelihoods.

The eKhaya Neighbourhood Improvement Programme has ensured that a large part of the Hillbrow district is safe, clean and an inviting place to live, however ongoing social challenges remain in some sections of the district including:

• “hi-jacked” buildings
• unemployment and poverty
• aging engineering services
• fragmented Institutional structures

The eKhaya project demonstrates that solutions to urban problems cannot only be devised by city administrators, but can also be generated by residents and business owners and operators.

The eKhaya neighborhood is managed by a consortium of public agencies, private sector and community actors. It demonstrates the power of mobilization to actively engage residents –those who own property and those who do not own property – by giving them a voice in urban regeneration efforts of the district.

While most urban regeneration initiatives lead to gentrification and the exclusion of low-income residents, the eKhaya project is flexible towards informal and street trading and subletting. These practices are often seen by city officials as illegal by contributing to urban disorder, however, they are imperative to making the city inclusive to the urban poor.

Vital Neighborhoods in Metropolitan Cities, Power of Urban Transformation through Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), UCLG peer learning Note, Montreal, June 2017

• Inclusion and equity
• Urban renewal
• Crime and violence prevention
• Health and wellbeing
• Citizen engagement

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Urban Regeneration: The Latest Architecture and News

Meanwhile projects activating public space: lessons from pop brixton and peckham levels in london, united kingdom.

A "meanwhile space" refers to the temporary use of an otherwise vacant area—whether it’s an empty shop, a disused building, or a site awaiting redevelopment. The concept r evolves around making productive use of these spaces during the interim period before a long-term purpose is established. Essentially, it’s about what happens in the meantime, turning unused spaces into vibrant, functional places during periods of uncertainty or transition.

• Read more »

RIBA Announces the Shortlist for the 2024 Stirling Prize

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has revealed the six shortlisted projects for the 2024 RIBA Stirling Prize . Awarded annually since 1996, this represents one the most important architecture prizes in the United Kingdom , striving to reward and highlight projects that envision a more inclusive future and engage actively with current challenges of the built environment. The selected works range in scale and program, from a national art gallery to an inclusive rural retreat, major urban regeneration projects, and even a London underground line. While some of the selected architects have received previous awards, including Mikhail Riches for the Goldsmith Street in 2019 and Jamie Fobert for New Tate St Ives in 2018 , other architects such as Clementine Blakemore Architects and Al-Jawad Pike are at their first nomination.

The European Prize for Urban Public Space 2024 Reveals 10 Finalists

The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona ( CCCB ) has announced the finalists for the European Prize for Urban Public Space 2024 . Selected from a total of 297 projects corresponding to 35 European countries, the 2024 edition nominates 5 finalists in the General category, promoting quality public spaces throughout the European territory, and 5 in the Seafronts category, addressing coastal cities' climate vulnerabilities. The European Prize for Urban Public Space is an honorary biennial competition aiming to highlight best practices and innovations in the creation, transformation, and recovery of public spaces in European cities.

As the first edition to include a dedicated category for Seafronts, this year’s awards recognize the importance and particular challenges faced by coastal cities. This is aligned with the Cultural Regatta , a schedule of activities running parallel to the America's Cup sailing competition in Barcelona. For this edition, the International Jury was presided over by the urbanist architect, landscape, and industrial designer Beth Galí , and made up of Sonia Curnier , Fabrizio Gallanti , Žaklina Gligorijević , Beate Hølmebakk , Manon Mollard , Francesco Musco , and Lluís Ortega . The winners of the 12th European Prize for Urban Public Space will be announced during a ceremony at CCCB on October 29, 2024.

Is Paris Ready for the Olympics? Exploring the City-Wide Implications of Hosting Global Events

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Olympic games included some unusual medal competitions , including architectural design and town planning. While these are no longer awarded Olympic events, architecture and urban planning continues to continue to have a crucial effect on the development of the global sporting event. Cities that bid to host face an important challenge in adapting their infrastructure to accommodate not only the venues and facilities, but all the support structures needed for a safe and enjoyable edition . Paris is no different . While the city hosted 2 previous editions of the games over a century ago, the challenges of the modern-day Games have proven significant. However, the city’s expansive infrastructures have enabled officials to adjust the measures in an effort to have sustainable development for and after the Games . With less than a month to go until the opening ceremony, explore the measures taken by city officials and the long-lasting effects of hosting an Olympic event.

Stefano Boeri Architetti Wins Competition for Green Neighborhood Development in Bratislava, Slovakia

Stefano Boeri Architetti has been declared the winner of the international competition for the redevelopment of a former industrial site in downtown Bratislava. The project includes the transformation of one of the largest abandoned areas in the Slovak capital, with the aim of creating an active new central hub for the city, complete with parks and public spaces, residential units, and a variety of amenities. Stefano Boeri Architetti’s master plan proposal, titled “Urban Oasis,” has been appreciated by the jury for integrating familiar typologies, creating a “European matrix” of medium-density developments organized around accessible public spaces.

A Burning Man Temple Concept and a Pavilion for Expo 2025 Osaka: 8 Competition Proposals Submitted by the ArchDaily Community

In the world of architecture, competitions serve as catalysts for innovation and creativity. By promoting the architectural community to contemplate a given theme and intervene in well-defined spaces, they provide some of the best platforms for experimentation, allowing architects and designers to explore new concepts, challenge conventions, and address pressing societal needs, all while comparing the wide variety of emerging solutions. This week's curated roundup gathers examples of worldwide competition proposals submitted by the ArchDaily Community .

The selected projects vary in size and program, from world-renowned competitions such as those hosted for the national pavilions at the next World Expo in Osaka, or the Temple at the center of Black Rock City at Burning Man , to local interventions that highlight unique spaces such as the creative reimagining of a popular market space in the historic center of Sibiu , Romania , or the subtle presence of a villa in the Mediterranean wilderness.

BIG’s Twisting One High Line Skyscrapers Near Completion in New York City

A new set of images showcases BIG 's One High Line development nearing completion. Located on the ‘Architecture Row’ in New York , the coupled twisting towers share the Hudson River skyline with neighbors such as Frank Gehry ’s IAC building, Renzo Piano ’s Whitney Museum of American Art , and Jean Nouvel ’s The Chelsea Nouvel ('100 Eleventh Avenue'), along with future works by Thomas Heatherwick and other renown architects. The two condominium towers designed by BIG are organized to define a central public courtyard, activating the public space with retail and commercial facilities. The towers’ exterior and the majority of the interior are completed, with the courtyard expected to be finished by early 2024.

Adaptive Reuse as a Strategy for Sustainable Urban Development and Regeneration

“New ideas must use old buildings,” said Jane Jacobs in her seminal book The Death and Life of Great American Cities , championing the reuse of existing building stock as a means to catalyze positive change and foster diverse urban environments. Inserting new activities within an existing framework is increasingly becoming a defining aspect of contemporary architecture, as the need for sustainable alternatives to building anew turns more urgent. From an urban perspective, adaptive reuse is a valuable strategy for revitalizing post-industrial cities, creating density and mitigating urban sprawl, or helping shrinking cities redefine their urban fabric.

A Highway Turned into Urban Farmland in California and a Contextual Insertion in Central Prague: 8 Urban Renewal Projects Submitted by the ArchDaily Community

Through urban renewal projects, architects, urban planners, and designers can infuse new life into dilapidated urban landscapes by upgrading the infrastructure, introducing new functions into the urban fabric, and reimagining the character of open public spaces. These types of projects present interest due to their dual character: on the one side they offer an opportunity for reimagining the potential of the city, but the areas they affect are already well-ingrained within the urban fabric, raising challenges of integration and contextual adaptation.

This week's curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights projects submitted by the ArchDaily community that enhance functionality, aesthetics, and sustainability of urban areas while respecting and embracing the existing fabric of the city. From a residential neighborhood that prioritizes self-sufficiency and circularity in the Netherlands, to a highway ramp transformed into productive spaces in California, United States, or a new elevated path designed to alleviate urban congestion in the harbor of Copenhagen, his selection features projects that highlight the ever-changing character of our cities. Featuring projects from both emerging and established architectural offices such as Benthem Crouwel Architects , Space&Matter , and Vincent Callebaut Architectures , the projects demonstrate the variety of approaches needed to adapt urban environments to the needs of their residents.

Theaster Gates Receives the 2023 Vincent Scully Prize

The National Building Museum announced that Theaster Gates will be the 25th recipient of the Vincent Scully Prize. Initiated in 1999, the award serves as a recognition of excellence in the fields of design, architecture, historic preservation , urban design, encompassing practice, and criticism. Theaster Gates is an artist internationally renowned for his interdisciplinary blend of social performance, urban regeneration, and cultural activations.

Last Call for Entries to Redesign a Historic 1950s Modernist Building

Chiesi Group, a pharmaceutical company that focuses on research-based innovation, has prioritized the health of patients across all age groups for over 85 years. Seeking the development of the next healthcare landmark for innovation, they launched Restore to Impact , an international call for entries to redesign the historic industrial site in Via Palermo, Parma.

Open to two categories –Professionals and Under 30s– the competition aims to find innovative, evolutionary and transversal proposals that will be the basis for the guidelines of the future architectural building project. The winning proposals for the three eligible concepts for the professional category will receive € 12,000 each, while the Under 30 category will receive € 5,000 each.

Meanwhile Spaces: Temporary Interventions for Lasting Urban Development

When streets lay empty, sidewalks untouched, and shutters hung heavy, the city seems lost of life. When businesses close, offices go remote and economic activity declines, the mechanisms that operate a city are idle. Vacant space and land are often perceived as “failed”, reflecting urban decline and economic blight . Emptiness, however, holds hope for possibilities and change. When urban voids are at the brink of transformation, what happens in the meanwhile?

Renzo Piano’s Urban Regeneration Project Transforms Genoa’s Seafront

First drafted by Renzo Piano and developed by RPBW and OBR , the Waterfront di Levante is a project that aims to transform what was previously the back of a port into a new urban front on the sea. The development is planned to become a new landmark on the seafront of Genoa , Italy , by bringing new urban and port functions, both public and private, to an underutilized area. By controlling the built-to-open area ratio, it also seeks to enhance the connection between the city and the sea. The project introduces functions such as the new Urban Park , a new dock, residences, offices, student housing, retail facilities, apart-hotels, and a new sports hall.

Rome to Undergo an Ecological Transition by 2050 Through an Initiative Led by Stefano Boeri

In line with the United Nations agenda of climate neutrality by 2050, the Rome City Council has announced the establishment of a Laboratory titled “ Laboratorio Roma050 – il Futuro della Metropoli Mondo ", a project proposed and led by Italian architect Stefano Boeri , which aims to draw up an ecological vision for Rome in 2050. The urban regeneration project consists of 12 young architects and urban planners under the age of 35, along with 4 renowned architects as mentors, who collectively have specific experience in terms of studies and research regarding the Italian capital.

5 Regenerative Strategies to Activate the Dead Edges in our Cities Post-Pandemic

As the city continues to evolve and transform, dead edges in the cityscape begin to emerge, subsequently reducing the level of activity in our built environment. These 'dead edges' refer to the areas that lack active engagement , they remain empty and deprived of people, since they no longer present themselves as useful or appealing. As the Covid-19 pandemic draws to an ultimate close, the first issue we may face post-pandemic is to revive our urban environment. A kiss of life into a tired and outdated cityscape...

The focal element in creating an active and healthy urban environment is by increasing vitality through placemaking . Creating diverse and interesting places to reside, thrive, and work. Here are five regenerative strategies that animate the cityscape and ultimately produce resilient, attractive, and flexible environments.

Brownfield Site Near Prague's Historic Centre to Be Redeveloped Into Dynamic Urban Hub

Czech practices UNIT Architekti , A69 - Architekti , and British firm Marko & Placemakers propose transforming the largest brownfield site neighbouring Prague's historic city centre into a dynamic urban hub. The masterplan, selected within a 2-stage international competition comprising 57 entries, envisions "a multifunctional urban framework" that mediates the infrastructural complexity of the site, establishing a new identity for the area.

A Reflection on Prostitution and Spatial Segregation in the Cities

Sex Day is an unofficial holiday created by marketers celebrated on September 6th in Brazil, highlighting one of the greatest taboos in modern society: sexuality. From an architectural and urban point of view, the immorality associated with sexual activities, especially in exchange for payment, deeply impacts our society and also affects the territory.

While sometimes considered morally wrong, sinful, forbidden, and impure, sex, sexuality, and pleasure are all inherent to human physiology. Prostitution is sometimes referred to as "the world's oldest profession," playing a fundamental role in our societies, as well as in our territory, in the spatial organization and dynamics of cities. This practice is at the margins of modern society and therefore has ended up occupying segregated spaces in the cities.

Foster + Partners Designs Mixed-Use Masterplan for Industrial Site in Chile

Foster + Partners revealed its design for a masterplan focusing on adaptive reuse and programmatic diversity meant to regenerate the site of a mid-century factory in the heart of Santiago . The practice's first project in Chile proposes the refurbishment of the existing factory building, La Fabrica, while adding a residential development on the adjacent site and introducing timber as a sustainable building material for the extensions.

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Does resident participation in an urban regeneration project improve neighborhood satisfaction: a case study of “amichojang” in busan, south korea.

1. Introduction

2. literature review: urban regeneration, participation, and neighborhood satisfaction, 3. urban regeneration project in korea, 4. research method, 4.1. study area, 4.2. data collection, 4.3. analytical framework, 5. empirical results, 5.1. descriptive statistics, 5.2. regression results, 5.3. additional analysis, 6. discussion and conclusions, author contributions, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Share and Cite

Jin, E.; Lee, W.; Kim, D. Does Resident Participation in an Urban Regeneration Project Improve Neighborhood Satisfaction: A Case Study of “Amichojang” in Busan, South Korea. Sustainability 2018 , 10 , 3755. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103755

Jin E, Lee W, Kim D. Does Resident Participation in an Urban Regeneration Project Improve Neighborhood Satisfaction: A Case Study of “Amichojang” in Busan, South Korea. Sustainability . 2018; 10(10):3755. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103755

Jin, Eunae, Woojong Lee, and Danya Kim. 2018. "Does Resident Participation in an Urban Regeneration Project Improve Neighborhood Satisfaction: A Case Study of “Amichojang” in Busan, South Korea" Sustainability 10, no. 10: 3755. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103755

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Urban regeneration in London: Lower Lea Valley

Urban Regeneration in the Lower Lea Valley

The International Olympics Committee selected Stratford in the East of London, as the destination for the 2012 Olympic Games. The location for the games was the Lower Lea Valley in East London, situated north of the London Docklands and mainly within the Borough of Newham. The River Lea, a tributary of the River Thames, flows through the Olympic Park. Before the Olympics, the region was in dire need of urban regeneration.

The location of the Lower Lea Valley

What was the area like before regeneration?

Before the London 2012 Olympics, the Lower Lea Valley was an area of urban deprivation with many derelict industrial sites, poor quality housing and high unemployment rates, and chemicals badly contaminated the land and waterways. Previously the Lower Lea Valley was an important agricultural community known for potato growing and a country retreat for the wealthy from the City. The introduction of the railway saw the creation of the Royal Docks, leading to industrialisation.

Why did the area need regenerating?

The Lower Lea Valley desperately needed regeneration after the docks and manufacturing industries were closed. The area was one of the most deprived communities in the country, where unemployment was high, educational achievement was low, and there was a high incidence of poor health amongst the population. The area needed more infrastructure, and the quality of the environment required improvement.

The bid for the 2012 London Olympics was successful, partly because of the plan for Stratford to be used during the games and the area’s regeneration for local people to use after the event. The park was named the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park after the Olympic Games.

The development of the Olympic Park began in 2007. Many factories and businesses in the area had already closed down, and some parts of the land were abandoned and covered in weeds. However, the space around the River Lea wasn’t empty.

One section of the site was a busy industrial area where many companies focused on recycling and fixing vehicles. There were also two areas with many factories, a small neighbourhood with houses, and a brand-new train station called Stratford International. The main reason there were few houses in that area was that the Lea Valley flooded quite often.

What challenges needed to be overcome to regenerate the site? 

Building the Olympic Park in just five years, from 2007 to 2012, was an impressive accomplishment.

Before construction could start, several challenges had to be overcome:

• First, all the land had to be brought together under one new owner, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), which the government established.
• Then, the people who owned or used the land before had to leave the area by 2007. There were protests by some local people, though the ODA eventually bought the land from them.
• Past industries polluted parts of the land, so they had to remove the contaminants before beginning construction.
• Approximately 110 hectares of brownfield land was reclaimed.
• Overhead electricity cables were buried below the ground.
• Since waterways and railways were all over the site, they built bridges to connect everything and make moving around easier.

How was the area regenerated? 

Preparation of the site involved: 

• The demolition of old factories, industrial estates and homes. 
• The clearance of derelict and overgrown sites. 
• Electric pylons and overhead cables were removed with wires going under the ground.
• Contaminated soil and waterways were cleaned up. 

The regeneration included: 

• The construction of new sports venues, including the Olympic Stadium (renamed to the London Stadium after the Olympics and now home to West Ham United), the Aquatics Centre and Velopark, which are open to the public and used by schools.
• Setting up the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), which is responsible for transforming and integrating one of the most challenged areas in the UK into world-class, sustainable and thriving neighbourhoods to make the Olympics legacy a reality.
• The Olympics media centre has been renamed Here East and is a hub for creative industries, employing 5,000 people.
• A landscaped park with natural habitats and a range of tourist attractions. The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is the largest new park in London, with over 100 hectares of open space.
• The Athlete’s Village, used by Olympic competitors, was converted into residential accommodation. Known as East Village, it provides 2,800 homes for locals and people who have moved into the area.
• Developing the International Quarter, a new high-rise office development employing 25,000 people.
• The East Bank development is a new cultural centre for London, home to organisations such as BBC Music, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London College of Fashion and the V&A Museum.

The video below shows a timelapse of the redevelopment.

Lower Lea Valley Photogallery – June 2023

The Queen Elizabeth Olmypic Park sign

The ArcelorMittal Orbit and London Stadium

The London Stadium

The ArcelorMittal Orbit

View of Canary Wharf from The ArcelorMittal Orbit

View of the slide from the top of the The ArcelorMittal Orbit

The Aquatics Centre

The Velodrome

Inside the Velodrome

View of the Velodrome from Knights Bridge

View towards East Bank from Knights Bridge

East Bank Development

The East Bank development

Developments at the International Quarter

East Village

What economic changes have taken place?

The Olympics generated £9 billion in extra income for the UK from the sale of buildings after the Olympics. Additionally, unemployment fell overall across London during the Olympic period. There has been a significant infrastructure improvement, with new homes, schools, and transport to connect the area to the rest of London. New jobs in construction and tourism have created a multiplier effect . By 2030 there will be 20,000 new jobs, bringing £5 billion to the local economy. The total bill for the Olympics was £8.77 billion of taxpayers’ money. (£5 billion over budget).

Construction at the International Quarter

What environmental changes have taken place?

The Olympic bid was partially successful because of its focus on sustainability. The park is designed to be sustainable in several ways that are good for the environment. For example, there are walking and cycling paths to encourage people to use non-polluting modes of transportation. Public transportation options make it easier for people to get around without using cars. There are bike hire points around the park, making cycling accessible.

The homes in the park are designed to use water efficiently, essential for conserving this valuable resource.

Additionally, the park aims to protect green areas and the natural homes of plants and animals, ensuring the preservation of habitats.

The parklands reflect the River Lea’s place at the heart of the area, with acres of wetlands and riverside meadows home to hundreds of different birds, waterfowl and amphibians.

However, during the redevelopment, 3.3 million tons of CO2 were created. Wildlife, such as newts, toads and lizards, had to be relocated. Finally, many of the stadiums and Olympic Park materials came from overseas.

Features of the regeneration of the Lower Lea Valley

What social changes have taken place?

Ten thousand new homes will be built in the park by 2030; 40% are affordable. Three thousand are the former Athlete’s Village (now East Village). A further five new communities with 8,000 new homes are planned by 2030. A new academy, accommodating 1800 pupils aged 3 to 18, is now on the site.

The community, schools, and elite athletes can use the aquatics centre and velodrome facilities. Also, a new bus station has been constructed next to the Stratford underground station, improving connectivity. The new Queen Elizabeth line also serves Stratford.

The parkland, which is free to access, contains beautiful gardens, wildlife walks and award-winning playgrounds, providing an ideal open space for locals and visitors to spend their leisure time.

Local waterways have opened up for leisure and recreation.

The Aquatics Centre beside the River Lee

Related Topics

Use the images below to explore related GeoTopics.

Pollution in London

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