Factors Shaping Biodiversity in Urban Voids: A Systematic Literature Review
Files
(Published version)
Date
2025
Authors
Cui, J.
Sharifi, E.
Bartesaghi Koc, C.
Yi, L.
Hawken, S.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Land, 2025; 14(4):821-1-821-23
Statement of Responsibility
Jian Cui, Ehsan Sharifi, Carlos Bartesaghi Koc, Linna Yi, and Scott Hawken
Conference Name
Abstract
Urban voids, such as vacant lots, brownfields, fallow land, wasteland, and the spaces between buildings, have the potential to serve as habitats for a diverse range of plants. However, their value for plant conservation remains understudied because of their informal and neglected nature. The aim of this systematic review is to consider the po‑ tential for urban voids to contribute to urban plant biodiversity. A total of 55 studies from 14 countries were analysed for geographical trends, factors influencing plant bio‑ diversity, research methods, and relevant environmental parameters. The results of this study show that the factors influencing the plant diversity of urban voids can be divided into three main categories: biophysical, temporal, and landscape factors. Biophysical fac‑ tors, such as size, age, soil, and vegetation structure, as well as temporal factors, including site management and human interventions, are the most important at the site‑level scale. In contrast, landscape factors, such as the location and distance from other green spaces, are more dominant at the larger urban scale. The review has identified a significant limi‑ tation in the available literature, with relatively few studies examining the influence of ur‑ ban voids’ shape, ownership, and microclimate on biodiversity. With respect to research methods, the results suggest a recent increase in the use of GIS‑based and remote sensing techniques to investigate the plant diversity of urban voids. The findings discussed in this paper indicate the need for further research to comprehensively understand the factors that promote urban vegetation diversity in urban voids.
School/Discipline
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Access Status
Rights
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/).