"Marginal" Urban Vegetation

Abstract

The capacity of cities to respond to the physical, social, economic and environmental reality in order to guarantee sustainability, identity, biophysical integration, social dynamics, mobility, diversity, security and comfort is being challenged. An ecological approach to urban planning and management is essential to maintain the long-term sustainability of ecosystem benefits, services and resources. The urban vegetation plays a key role in this process. While municipality plans identify and protect most green areas, a network of existing vegetation remains «marginal» in these plans and its contribution to the urban ecosystem remains unknown. In this study, by means of satellite images, the existing vegetation of the city of Lisbon is identified, quantified and compared to the Ecological Urban Structure Plan (EUS), as defined by the municipality. The amount of vegetation not considered by the EUS was defined as «marginal» Urban Vegetation. It consists of a considerable amount of areas, fragmented throughout the city and subjected to imminent pressures. This vegetation is investigated, evaluated and its evolution monitored with images of the past 7 years and finally, contextualized in the new urban plans for the city.