This book offers an overview of recent scientific and professional literature on urban greening and urban ecology, focusing on diverse disciplines such as landscape architecture, geography, urban ecology, urban climatology, biodiversity conservation, urban governance, architecture and urban hydrology. It includes contributions in which academics, public policy experts and practitioners share their considerable knowledge on the multi-faceted aspects of greening cities. The greening of cities has witnessed a global resurgence over the past two decades and has made a significant contribution to urban liveability and sustainability, as well as increasing resilience. As urban greening efforts continue to expand, it is useful to promote recent advances in our understanding of various aspects of planning, design and management of urban greenery, but at the same time, it is also important to realize that there are important gaps in our knowledge and that further research is needed. The book is organized in three main parts: concepts, functions and forms of urban greening. The first part examines the historical roots of greening cities and how the burgeoning field of urban ecology can contribute useful principles and strategies to guide the planning, design and management of urban greening. The second part shifts the focus to the diverse range of services - the functions - provided by urban greening, such as those related to urban climate, urban biodiversity, human health, and community building. The final part explores conventional, often neglected, but important forms of urban greenery such as urban woodlands and urban farms, as well as relatively recent forms of urban greenery like those integrated with buildings and waterways. It offers a ready reference resource for researchers, practitioners and policy-makers to grasp the critical issues and trigger further studies and applications in the quest for high-performance green cities.

Sustainability Matters is a compilation of some of the best research papers by students from the National University of Singapore's multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary graduate programme in environmental studies, the M.Sc. in Environmental Management [MEM]. This collection is for the period 2012/2013 and 2013/2014. Entitled Sustainability Matters: Environmental and Climate Changes in the Asia-Pacific, this is the fifth compilation by the programme, and comprises 18 of the best research papers completed during this period. The papers have been edited for brevity. They analyse the many challenges to effective environmental management covering countries including Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and the US. Issues examined include biodiversity conservation, environmental impact assessments, energy, food security, sustainable business practices, public housing, environmental education, and climate change.The first compilation, Sustainability Matters: Environmental Management in Asia was published in 2010 (World Scientific) and comprised the best papers from 2001/2002 to 2006/2007. The second, Sustainability Matters: Challenges and Opportunities in Environmental Management in Asia was published in 2011 (Pearson), and comprised the best papers from 2007/2008 and 2008/2009. The third and fourth compilations (World Scientific) comprised the best papers from the period 2009/2010 to 2011/2012.The papers are edited by five staff members from different disciplines in the MEM programme: Lye Lin-Heng, Victor R Savage, Kua Harn-Wei, Chou Loke-Ming and Tan Puay-Yok.

This book offers an overview of recent scientific and professional literature on urban greening and urban ecology, focusing on diverse disciplines such as landscape architecture, geography, urban ecology, urban climatology, biodiversity conservation, urban governance, architecture and urban hydrology. It includes contributions in which academics, public policy experts and practitioners share their considerable knowledge on the multi-faceted aspects of greening cities. The greening of cities has witnessed a global resurgence over the past two decades and has made a significant contribution to urban liveability and sustainability, as well as increasing resilience. As urban greening efforts continue to expand, it is useful to promote recent advances in our understanding of various aspects of planning, design and management of urban greenery, but at the same time, it is also important to realize that there are important gaps in our knowledge and that further research is needed. The book is organized in three main parts: concepts, functions and forms of urban greening. The first part examines the historical roots of greening cities and how the burgeoning field of urban ecology can contribute useful principles and strategies to guide the planning, design and management of urban greening. The second part shifts the focus to the diverse range of services - the functions - provided by urban greening, such as those related to urban climate, urban biodiversity, human health, and community building. The final part explores conventional, often neglected, but important forms of urban greenery such as urban woodlands and urban farms, as well as relatively recent forms of urban greenery like those integrated with buildings and waterways. It offers a ready reference resource for researchers, practitioners and policy-makers to grasp the critical issues and trigger further studies and applications in the quest for high-performance green cities.