The number of shrinking cities is rapidly growing and posing new planning and design challenges worldwide. In this regard, understanding urban decline from an integrated ecosystem services/disservices perspective is limited in the literature and is considered as a critical basis for revitalization programs. Minoo Island as one of the emerging shrinking cases in Middle East has considerable characteristics in terms of both positive and negative aspects of ecosystem in population decline. This paper aims to investigate various ecosystem factors resulting in urban shrinkage in Minoo Island as a consequence of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980s. The research method of this study is based on qualitative assessment of ecosystem services/disservices by using participant observation and semi-structured interviews. An integrated ecosystem services/disservice analysis was applied for assessment of ecological functions and assets. The results of this paper show that despite remarkable ecosystem potentials and functionalities in Minoo Island, it suffers from detrimental effects of ecosystem disservices leading to population decline over the past decades. Finally, this paper proposed some green-oriented design and planning strategies such as ecological protection, river restoration and green infrastructures for revitalizing Minoo Island.

Problem statement: Nowadays professions such as architecture, landscape architecture and urban design are playing a unique role in environmental design process. Meanwhile architecture is being separated from two other majors: landscape architecture and urban design by paying so much attention to constructing buildings. Landscape architecture and urban design have parallel subjects and goals and both have the intention to improve the quality of urban open spaces. Approach: Since these two majors have partly the same approaches in confronting the topic of urban open spaces design, this study propounded the desirable method of collaboration between the professionals of these two majors. This research defined the role and position, each of these two professions have in the environmental design process by taking advantage of grounded theory procedure and the usage of content analysis, constant comparison and the questionnaire techniques. Results: Ideas found in this research were laying stress on the fact that by considering the three-level system from relations between the parameters: design/planning, control/co-ordination, management/policy making as the main common roles among the urban design and landscape architecture professionals, one can achieve the pattern of an efficient interaction. Conclusion: In this co-operation, landscape architects by preparing plans and implementing details and urban designers by making design structures and standards will obtain a supplemental role in the environmental design process

As cities are facing environmental and societal challenges, including climate change, rapid urbanization, and the COVID-19 pandemic, scholars and policymakers have recognized the potential of small-scale urban green infrastructures (UGI), such as rain gardens and street trees, to support important ecosystem services (ES) during periods of crisis and change. While there has been considerable research on the design, planning, engineering, and ecology of small-scale UGI, the governance modes of such spaces to support ES and manage ecosystem disservices (EDS) have received significantly less research attention. In this article, we provide a systematic review to evaluate how different modes of governance support different ES in small-scale green infrastructure. We evaluated governance in six types of small-scale green infrastructure: small parks, community gardens, vacant lands, rain gardens, green roofs, and street trees. Our review examines the different characteristics of four new governance approaches, including adaptive, network, mosaic, and transformative to understand their bottom-up nature and applicability in governing ES/disservices of small-scale UGI. Each governance mode can be effective for managing the ES of certain small-scale UGI, given their associations with principles such as resilience thinking, connectivity, and active citizenship. Our synthesis highlights knowledge gaps at the intersection between governance arrangements and ES in small-scale UGI. We conclude with a call for further research on the environmental and contextual factors that moderate the linkages between governance modes and ES/EDS in different types of UGI.

Flooding is increasing in urban areas around the world, leading to loss of life and property damage, and cities are using urban green spaces (UGS) for flood regulation. The spatial attributes of UGS have an important role in controlling and regulating urban flooding, and there is a need for a systematic map on how spatial factors of UGS, such as shape, size, location, or connectivity, impact flooding in urban areas. The objectives of this study are to analyze and synthesize published material to evaluate the impacts of the spatial dimensions of UGS on flood regulation and to identify knowledge gaps and future research directions. Pertinent literature was reviewed and synthesized using the systematic mapping method. The results of this study show that previous research on spatial configuration have examined how variables such as slope, DEM, green space coverage, and landscape shape index impact runoff reduction. Slope was found to be an important, but not determining factor in flood regulation. There is a need for further research on how the geographic context of urban regions, including climatic conditions and land use changes, impacts UGS functionality. Additionally, there is a need for further research on how the spatial configuration of UGS impacts flood vulnerability and intensity, two under-addressed yet important topics in urban flooding.

Green roofs provide multiple benefits to households and urban neighbourhoods by lowering temperatures, reducing energy costs, and reducing stormwater runoff. However, green roofs are expensive and may not be available to all residents, which raises questions about who benefits from green roofs and urban policies that support this technology. Policies to support different social groups’ access to this green infrastructure is important for achieving equity. This study aims to identify and analyze to what extent existing different rooftop greening incentives and mandatory policies in three American cities, including New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, address environmental justice. Nine policies were analyzed from three cities based on three dimensions of environmental justice. The results show that all policies have neglected a degree of distributional, recognitional, and procedural environmental justice in their policies. Although incentives try to advance distributional justice by implementing green roofs in different parts of the city, these policies do not pay enough attention to support themes such as zoning, size, rental status, land value, and affordability in all urban areas.