Greening Cities for a Cooler Future: The Role of Urban Green Spaces in Climate Change Resilence

Abstract

Urban green spaces help to control climate change by absorbing CO₂ and storing it in biomass, while also mitigating urban heat islands, enhancing air quality, and regulating urban runoff. This is particularly important as CO₂ emissions from economically vital activities are challenging to reduce. Urban green spaces offer a valuable strategy for offsetting these emissions and improving urban sustainability. These processes enhance urban resilience by moderating temperatures, cleaning the air, and protecting infrastructure, creating more livable and sustainable cities. This paper examines the significance of urban green spaces, specifically studying the diversity and carbon sequestration potential of roadside trees in Shivamogga to understand their significance in expanding urban regions. The field survey documented 2056 individual trees, representing 74 species across 22 families. In this study Pongamia pinnata showed the highest Species Important Value Index (IVI) i.e. 52.107 suggest that this species is dominant, widely distributed, and well adopted for urban environment. Fabaceae is the dominant family with Family Important Value Index 142.26 indicating its dominance in the urban vegetation, contributing significantly to urban forest’s structure and function. Total Carbon Stock is 1381.11 tCO₂e/ha. Carbon stock is more in Samanae saman(456.05tCO₂e/ha) followed by Peltophorum pterocarpum(155.50t/ha), and Pongamia pinnata(98.92tCO₂e/ha).Findings of this research study focuses solely on significance of roadside trees in changing urban environment, they demonstrate the effectiveness of urban tree planting as a strategy for offsetting CO₂ emissions.