Carbon and nitrogen content in Mexico City: evidence of the influence of urban social structure
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18537/est.v015.n030.a05Keywords:
forest biomass, planning, sustainability, urban ecology, urbanizationAbstract
Globally, urban ecosystems are key to mitigating climate change. However, studies focus on developed countries, with few studies in Latin American cities. In this study, we modeled the carbon and nitrogen contents in vegetation and soil in Mexico City and evaluated how urban social inequality (social and economic development; form and structure; and functional typology of residential land uses) influences their contents. Our results indicate that lower social classes and high population densities have the lowest estimates of carbon and nitrogen. In contrast, middle and upper-middle social classes (property and construction prices) show the highest values of carbon and nitrogen. This knowledge is essential for understanding the impacts of urbanization and designing more sustainable urban planning strategies in the face of global environmental change.
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Funding data
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Sistema Nacional de Investigadores
Grant numbers Ciencia de Frontera (15004) “Ciudades en transición: dimensión espacial de la (des)vinculación ecológica, modos de vida urbanos y escenarios futuros”