Projects
Water sensitive urban design in our cities: urban green as a tool for water management. KU Leuven
The rapid growth of cities around the world poses a lot of challenges to the environment. An important issue that comes with this growing trend of urbanization is the alteration of the hydrological cycle. Because of the high level of impervious surfaces in urban areas, processes such as infiltration, runoff, evaporation and interception of rainwater undergo drastic changes. An increase in runoff is observed, while evaporation, infiltration ...
The role of urban vegetation as a Climate Sensitive Urban Design (CSUD) tool KU Leuven
Understanding and Managing Urban Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Communities to Increase the Health and Ecosystem Service Provisioning of Urban Trees KU Leuven
As 80% of the EU population is expected to live in urban areas by 2020, the quality of the urban environment is of growing importance. Urban trees are key elements in mitigating the common environmental problems in urban areas, trough provisioning crucial ecosystem services such as air quality improvement and microclimate mitigation.However, urban trees typically face harsh environmental conditions, resulting in reduced health, and ...
The effect of urban green and blue on mitigating urban heat islands and improving thermal comfort: a case-study in Leuven, Belgium KU Leuven
High air temperatures form a significant problem for human health, leading to an excess mortality of 6% or more than 2 000 extra deaths during the summers of 2003, 2006 and 2010 in Belgium alone. Projections show that climate change will induce increasing average air temperatures and will lead to an increased frequency and severity of heat waves. The consequences of these projections are even greater in urban areas where the urban heat island ...
Benchmarking polycentric urban development: determining the ‘balance’ between ‘urban centers’ KU Leuven
Trees in the urban jungle: modelling the impact of tree planting strategies on urban overheating Ghent University
Urban green infrastructure provides a multitude of ecosystem services. Among others, it contributes to climate regulation through shade provisioning and transpiration. City trees are a key component in this climate regulation. A good understanding of these benefits is required to contribute to green infrastructure management and to make cities more resilient against climate change. The current knowledge on the spatially explicit ...
Three contributions to an evolving urban studies research agenda: world city networks, polycentric urban regions, and collaborations at the intersection of data and social sciences KU Leuven
In the context of ongoing ontological/epistemological/methodological debates on the nature of urban studies, this research program submitted as an integral part of the BOFZAP position in 'city science' consists of three main pillars: extensions to world city network research; research into polycentric urban regions; and research collaborations at the intersection of social science and data sciences.
Climate change in cities: impact of the urban heat island on microclimate, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in urban forests Ghent University
Forests are biodiversity hotspots and provide a multitude of ecosystem services. An important characteristic of forests is their microclimate beneath the canopy layer, which buffers temperatures. The forest microclimate provides favourable conditions for understorey species, which are sensitive to climate warming. Some ecosystem functions are strongly driven by temperature, e.g. litter decomposition. Urban areas are characterised by increased ...
Towards an explanation for urban vitality in times of crisis. A study on the impact of economic integration and intra-regional migration on the urban character in Late Roman Africa. Ghent University
The Late Roman 'success story' of urbanization in Africa Proconsularis, Byzacena, Numidia and Tripolitania has largely been established through generalizations of individual case studies. Wide studies of urban development that actually explain this development hardly carried out and that have been, did not venture beyond a certain time frame (the Principate, i.e. the first three centuries after Christ, or the late Roman period). This research ...