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Sustainable Management of Urban Soils and Improving the Quality of Life

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A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2022) | Viewed by 9915

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Slaveya Petrova

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Guest Editor

Department of Ecology and Environmental Conservation, Faculty of Biology, Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski”, 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Interests: soil science; soil management; urban ecology; phytoecology; biomonitoring; ecosystem services; sustainable development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Stefan Shilev

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Guest Editor

Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Environmental Biotechnologies, Faculty of Plant Protection and Agroecology, Agricultural University – Plovdiv, 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Interests: soil microbiology; plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB); phytoremediation; biowaste composting and recycling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil plays a fundamental role in the development of human society and human wellbeing, even though public awareness is mainly focused on soil as a basis for settlement construction and agricultural production. Soils in the urban environment can play a crucial role in promoting the reciprocal connections between natural and social capital in sustaining human wellbeing due to their capacity to secure urban quality of life.

There are various relationships between humanity, settlements, and nature, among which greening and the formation of a green system of functionally different green spaces in cities play a major role, as they create the environment for carrying out basic human activities. Soil is the main base for urban vegetation and is crucial for plant growth and development; thus, the sustainable management of urban soils is a top priority at both the local and regional levels.

For this Special Issue, we invite papers that focus on, but are not limited to, the following topics:

Sustaining biological activity, diversity, and productivity of urban soils;
The buffering, degrading, immobilizing, and detoxifying capacity of urban soils with respect to different types of harmful substances and toxic elements originating from industrial and municipal byproducts as well as from atmospheric depositions;
The role of urban soils in storing and cycling nutrients and other elements within the Earth’s biosphere;
Ecosystem services of urban soils as a control of microclimate and mesoclimate, carbon stock, etc.;
Best practices with respect to the sustainable management of urban soils and improving quality of life.

Dr. Slaveya Petrova
Dr. Stefan Shilev
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Urban soils contamination
Urban soils compaction
Urban soils sealing
Urban soils biodiversity
Urban soils remediation
Urban soils functions
Urban soils carbon stock

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 40264 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nature-Based Solutions for the Sustainable Management of Urban Soils and Quality of Life Improvements

by Slaveya Petrova, Iliana Velcheva, Bogdan Nikolov, Nikola Angelov, Gergana Hristozova, Penka Zaprjanova, Ekaterina Valcheva, Irena Golubinova, Plamen Marinov-Serafimov, Petar Petrov, Veneta Stefanova, Evelina Varbanova, Deyana Georgieva, Violeta Stefanova, Mariyana Marhova, Marinela Tsankova and Ivan Iliev

Land 2022, 11(4), 569; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11040569 - 12 Apr 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2180

Abstract

The rehabilitation and restoration of land-based ecosystems is a key strategy for recovering the services (goods and resources) ecosystems offer to humankind. The use of nature-based solutions (NBSs) to restore degraded soil functions and improve soil quality can be a sustainable and successful strategy to enhance their ecosystem services by working together with the forces of nature and using well-designed measures that require less maintenance, are more cost-effective, and if constructed in the right way may even be more effective over long periods because nature’s forces can increase the structural efficiency. In this study, we aimed to (i) evaluate the bioremediation capacity of some grasses and their suitability for lawn planting in settlements (in residential and non-residential areas, along roads, etc.) and (ii) propose technological solutions for their practical application in an urban environment. Emphasis was placed on the potential of some perennial grasses and their application for the bioremediation of polluted urban soils, including perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum L.), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb), and bird’s foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.). A case study from the city of Plovdiv (Bulgaria) is presented, together with an effective technological solution for the establishment of urban lawns and the roadside green buffer patches. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management of Urban Soils and Improving the Quality of Life)

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14 pages, 2769 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Urban Naturalization for Green Spaces Using Soil Tillage, Herbicide Application, Compost Amendment and Native Vegetation

by Jaime Aguilar Rojas, Amalesh Dhar and M. Anne Naeth

Land 2021, 10(8), 854; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10080854 - 15 Aug 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3110

Abstract

Naturalization is a new and promising ecological approach to green space development for urban environments, although knowledge is sparse on techniques to implement it. We evaluated naturalization of eight native trees and shrubs, with site preparation (tillage, herbicide) and soil amendment (compost rates) treatment combinations at six sites in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Soil texture improved with all compost rates, and acidity, electrical conductivity and total carbon increased, especially with 100% compost. Soil nutrients generally increased with compost then declined within a year. Plant species with highest potential for use in urban green spaces were Picea glauca, Symphoricarpos albus and Rosa acicularis. Herbicide was the most influential site preparation treatment, positively increasing survival and growth of planted woody species, while negatively lowering non-native species cover and increasing noxious weed cover. Soil amendment with compost influenced cover not species richness, with high compost amendment reducing vegetation cover across sites, and increasing individual plant size. This study suggests amendment of soil with compost and appropriate site preparation can positively influence naturalization of these woody species for urban green spaces. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management of Urban Soils and Improving the Quality of Life)

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Review

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23 pages, 3303 KiB

Open AccessReview

Buffer Green Patches around Urban Road Network as a Tool for Sustainable Soil Management

by Slaveya Petrova, Bogdan Nikolov, Iliana Velcheva, Nikola Angelov, Ekaterina Valcheva, Aneliya Katova, Irena Golubinova and Plamen Marinov-Serafimov

Land 2022, 11(3), 343; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11030343 - 25 Feb 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3426

Abstract

Urban areas are facing a range of environmental challenges including air, water and soil pollution as a result of industrial, domestic and traffic emissions. In addition, global climate change is likely to aggravate certain urban problems and disturb the urban ecology by increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. In the context of urbanization growth and the consequent impact on the environment, there is a growing interest in maintaining urban soil quality and functions as they are the medium for green infrastructure development. Furthermore, urban soils are becoming one of the key factors in the delivery of many ecosystem services such as carbon storage, climate regulation, water flow regulation, etc. On the other hand, urban soils are well-known to be a major sink of air pollutants due to the wet and dry atmospheric deposition and recirculation. Soil has the ability to degrade some chemical contaminants but when the levels are high, urban soils could hold on large amounts and pose a risk to human health. A cost-effective technological solution is to use the ability of some plant species to metabolize, accumulate and detoxify heavy metals or other harmful organic or inorganic compounds from the soil layer. The establishment of urban lawns (grass covered surfaces) is a helpful, environmentally friendly, economically sustainable and cost-effective approach to remove contaminants from polluted soils (terrains), which also has some aesthetic benefits. In this paper, an overview of the benefits and limitations of urban lawn construction is presented. The focus is on the perspectives for sustainable management of urban lawns, especially as buffer green patches in the road network surroundings, that can represent strategies to provide ecological and social multifunctionality of urban soils, and thus, increasing their ecosystem services capacity. Specifically, the paper highlights (i) the possibilities for phytoremediation of urban soils, (ii) potential of some perennial grasses and (iii) key issues that should be considered in the planning and design of urban lawns. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management of Urban Soils and Improving the Quality of Life)

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