Journal of Environmental Studies

Journal of Environmental Studies

A Meta-Analysis of Biodiversity-Friendly City Indicators for Application in Urban Planning

Document Type : Review paper

Authors
Shiraz University
Abstract
Objective: The global crisis of biodiversity loss is largely driven by increasing urbanization and poses a significant threat to ecosystem sustainability and human well-being. Enhancing the ecological health of urban environments has therefore become a vital necessity, along with developing effective strategies to create cities that support biodiversity. The objective of this research is to formulate biodiversity-friendly city indicators, analyze their effects, and prioritize them for application in urban planning in order to realize this approach.
Method: A quantitative meta-analysis method was applied to 32 valid and peer-reviewed scientific articles in English, published between 2010 and 2024, which were extracted from recognized academic publishing databases. The analysis included calculating the cumulative effect size of the indicators on urban biodiversity and evaluating publication bias utilizing CMA V3 software.
Results: The meta-analysis results showed a positive and highly significant relationship between the investigated indicators and the improvement of the biodiversity status in cities (pooled odds ratio: 0.258). This result indicates the ability of these indicators to reduce negative consequences on biodiversity by approximately 60 to 70 percent. Frequency analysis showed that indicators related to ecological dimensions (such as species richness, green spaces, native vegetation) received the most attention in the studies, while human and social dimensions (education, participation) have been less explored. The meta-analysis results were robust against publication bias.
Conclusions: This study emphasizes the vital importance of investing in urban green infrastructure and its sustainable management to enhance biodiversity. The identified indicators are effective tools for improving biodiversity in urban spaces. The findings highlight the necessity for future research to pay more attention to social and human dimensions and to adopt a holistic approach for building cities that truly support biodiversity and emphasize the application of this approach in urban planning and management in the layers of decision-making as well as the implementation of urban programs.
Keywords
Subjects

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