Geospatial surveillance of urban green gold’s response to the built environment of Rawalpindi, Pakistan

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Research Paper 01/05/2021
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Geospatial surveillance of urban green gold’s response to the built environment of Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Amna Butt, Sheikh Saeed Ahmad
J. Biodiv. & Environ. Sci. 18(5), 1-7, May 2021.
Copyright Statement: Copyright 2021; The Author(s).
License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Abstract

Policymakers and city planners actively seek to direct urbanization to uphold the quality of life. Urban green gold plays a crucial role in this process as it impacts the wellbeing of local populations and the long-term sustainability of the cities in a multitude of ways. However, it is challenging to factor in the impact of the built environment on the benefits provided by green gold. The study assessed this impact by amalgamation of Redundancy Analysis and Remotely sensed biomass estimation. The outcomes highlighted that different developmental activities in all four zones of the city i.e. planned developments, rudimentary developments, roadside vegetation, and designated green spaces had significant negative connotations on not only the species diversity but also on its biomass health. The negative influence was most predominant in the rudimentary developments followed by planned developments and roadside vegetation. These outcomes provided the means to assess how different anthropogenic and biogeophysical variables might be responsible for shaping the landscape of today in terms of health and distribution of urban green gold, and consequently wellbeing of Rawalpindi’s population.

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