Landscape and ecological potential of vacant lands in the city of Astrakhan

The article provides a multicriterial assessment of urban vacant lands in the city of Astrakhan. Urban vacant lands are defined as undeveloped and unused sites, not attributed to green zones in the city plan. The purpose of the assessment is to recognize the most valuable vacant sites. Their conservation and rehabilitation could enhance the quality and attractiveness of urban environment, while less valuable sites could be recommended for urban development. The work evaluates four landscape functions that correspond to the main problems of the city: 1) runoff regulation function is assessed by the means of morphometric analysis of flow channels and field data on erosion and water logging; 2) climate regulation function is assessed using InVEST urban cooling model; 3) recreational function is evaluated by field and remote sensing data about the current state of vegetation on the vacant sites and by the demand of recreational zones estimated by walking time to the nearest park; 4) air pollution mitigation function is evaluated by the rate of environment child diseases and the density of green spaces in the city districts. Integral assessment of vacant sites helps to provide recommendations on their preferable use. Landscape and ecological potential of vacant lands varies significantly between different parts of the city. Vacant sites of the northeastern outskirts of the city, located within the lower part of the Volga delta, received the highest values, while the small sites in the city center and the industrial zone in the eastern outskirts received the lowest values. As a result, 2570 ha of vacant lands were recommended for greening and rehabilitation, and 327,9 ha for construction.

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