Mitigation of Urban Impacts: A Transdisciplinary Vision of Green Space Support for Human Well-Being

Within this article, we present an overview of the merits and limitations of employing the ecosystem services approach in the design of green spaces. Amidst the expanding urban land use and its consequent impacts on the overall environment, green spaces emerge as essential providers of ecosystem services, promoting the well-being of the populace. The concept of ecosystem services serves as a unifying framework for comprehending human-environment interactions, amalgamating the facets of biodiversity and abiotic elements. This framework establishes a link between ecological processes, functions, and the well-being of humans. In the urban context, the notion of green infrastructure (GI) accentuates not only the quantiaty but also the caliber of urban and peri-urban green spaces and natural zones. Nonetheless, the role of urban stressors or the urban milieu as driving forces behind urban GI is not universally comprehended. This knowledge gap can be attributed, in part, to the disparity between the ecological and planning scientific approach, which revolves around the relationship between "biodiversity, urban space planning, and human well-being," and the biological scientific approach, which centers on plant responses to environmental stresses that impact human well-being. This divergence can lead to a paradox, as inadequately designed green spaces may not yield the expected effects. The focus of this study is centred on the principal ecosystem services provided by green roofs and urban agriculture, with an emphasis on: (i) The interplay of ecological processes and functions that sustain ecosystem services, (ii) Urban environmental stressors in relation to potential adverse effects (disservices) they may generate for human well-being, (iii) Essential considerations for the planning and design of urban ecosystem services. This innovative, transdisciplinary outlook on urban ecosystem services underscores the imperative of considering GI as an active component in the design of urban spaces within the constructed environment.