New Software for Designing Sustainable Cities新软件助力可持续城市设计

萨拉·卡法索 译/乔虹

By 2050， more than 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities. Stanford Natural Capital Project researchers have developed software that shows city planners where to invest in nature to improve people’s lives and save billions of dollars.到2050年，世界上超過70%的人口将生活在城市中。斯坦福自然资本项目的研究人员开发出一款软件，该软件旨在向城市规划者们展示自然环境投资应从何处着手，以改善人们的生活并节省数十亿美元。

The free， open-source software developed by the Stanford Natural Capital Project creates maps to visualize the links between nature and human wellbeing.

City planners and developers can use the software to visualize where investments in nature， such as parks and marshlands， can maximize benefits to people， like protection from flooding and improved health.

“This software helps design cities that are better for both people and nature，” said Anne Guerry， Chief Strategy Officer and Lead Scientist at the Nat-ural Capital Project. “Urban nature is a multitasking benefactor—the trees on your street can lower temperatures so your apartment is cooler on hot summer days. At the same time， they’re soaking up the carbon emissions that cause climate change， creating a free， accessible place to stay healthy through physical activity and just making your city a more pleasant place to be.”

By 2050， experts expect over 70 per cent of the world’s people to live in     cities—in the United States， more than 80 per cent already do. As the global community becomes more urban， developers and city planners are increasingly interested in green infrastructures， such as tree-lined paths and community gardens， that provide a stream of benefits to people. But if planners don’t have detailed information about where a path might encourage the most people to exercise or how a community garden might buffer1 a neighbourhood from flood risk while helping people recharge mentally， they can’t strategically invest in nature.

“We’re answering three crucial questions with this software： wherein a city is a nature providing what benefits to people， how much of each benefit is it providing and who is receiving those benefits？” said Perrine Hamel， lead author on a new paper about the software published in Urban Sustainability and Livable Cities Program Lead at the Stanford Natural Capital Project at the time of research.

The software， called Urban InVEST， is the first of its kind for cities and allows for the combination of environmental data， like temperature patterns， with social demographics and economic data， like income levels. Users can input their city’s datasets into the software or access a diversity of open global data sources， from NASA satellites to local weather stations. The new software joins the Natural Capital Project’s existing InVEST software suite， a set of tools designed for experts to map and model the benefits that nature provides to people.

To test Urban InVEST， the team          applied the software in multiple cities around the world： Paris， France; Lausanne， Switzerland; Shenzhen and Guangzhou， China; and several U.S. cities， including San Francisco and Minneapolis. In many cases， they worked with local partners to understand priority questions—in Paris， candidates in a municipal election were campaigning on the need for urban greenery， while in Minneapolis， planners were deciding how to repurpose underused golf course land.

Running the numbers

In Shenzhen， China， the researchers used Urban InVEST to calculate how natural infrastructure like parks， grassland and forest would reduce damages in the event of a severe， once-in-one-hundred-years storm. They found that the city’s nature would help avoid $25 billion in damages by soaking up rain and diverting floodwaters. They also showed that natural infrastructure—like trees and parks—was reducing the daily air temperature in Shenzhen by 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit （3 degrees Celsius） during hot summer days， providing a dollar value of $71，000 per day in benefits to the city.

Targeting inequities

Nature is often distributed unevenly across cities—putting lower-income people at a disadvantage. Data show that lower-income and marginalized communities often have less access to nature in cities， meaning they are unable to reap the benefits， like improved mental and physical health， that nature provides to wealthier populations.

In Paris， the researchers looked at neighbourhoods without access to natural areas and overlaid income and economic data to understand who were receiving benefits from nature. The software helped determine where investments in more green space—like parks and bike paths—could be most effective at boosting health and wellbeing in an equitable way.

Planning for a greener future

In the Minneapolis-St. Paul， Minnesota region， golf revenue is declining. The downturn has created an appealing opportunity for private golf courses to sell off their land for development. But should developers create a new park or build a new neighbourhood？ Urban InVEST showed how， compared to golf courses， new parks could increase urban cooling， keep river waters clean， support bee pollinators and sustain dwindling pockets2 of biodiversity. New residential development， on the other hand， would increase temperatures， pollute freshwater and decrease habitat for bees and other biodiversity.

Healthy city ecosystems

Urban InVEST recently helped inform an assessment of how nature might help store carbon and lower temperatures in 775 European cities.

“Cities， more than any other ecosystems， are designed by people.” said Guerry， also an author on the paper. “With Urban InVEST， city governments can bring all of nature’s benefits to residents and visitors. They can address inequities and build more resilient cities， resulting in better long-term outcomes for people and nature.”

这是一款免费的开源软件，由斯坦福自然资本项目开发。它可以绘制地图，使自然和人类福祉的联系变得可视化。

利用这款软件，城市规划者和开发人员能够看到在自然领域（如公园、沼泽）的哪些投资可以为人们带来最大的利益，比如预防洪水、改善健康等。

“这款软件有助于设计出更利于人类和自然的城市。”自然资本项目的首席战略官、首席科学家安妮·盖里说，“城市的自然环境带给我们很多好处。比如说，行道树可以降低气温，在炎热的夏季让我们的住宅更凉爽。同时，它们还能吸收导致气候变化的碳排放，为人们创造出一个便利的免费场所，这样人们就能够通过体育活动来保持身体健康，而城市也变得更宜居。”

专家们预计，至2050年，全球将有超过70%的人口居住在城市中。而在美国，超过80%的人口已经在城市中生活。随着全球社区越来越城市化，开发人员和城市规划者们对于绿色基础设施的兴趣渐增，比如林荫小路和社区公园，它们都能为人们提供源源不断的好处。但如果规划人员没有详细的信息，不了解在何处铺设林荫小径最能鼓励人们健身，也不清楚社区公园如何使社区免受水患，同时帮助人们放松精神，那他们就无法在自然环境中进行战略性投资。

“有了这款软件，我们就可以解答三个关键性问题：城市中的自然环境体现在哪些方面？为人们提供了哪些好处？每种好处有多大？哪些人享有这些好处？”珀赖因·哈梅尔说道。她以主要作者的身份在《城市可持续性》期刊上发表了一篇关于该软件的新论文，当时她是斯坦福自然资本项目宜居城市计划的负责人。

这款软件名为Urban InVEST，是首个面向城市的此类软件。该软件能够将环境数据（如温度模式）与社會人口数据和经济数据（如收入水平）相结合。用户可以将其所在城市数据集输入该软件，或者访问全球的各种开放性数据源——无论是美国国家航空航天局的卫星数据，还是当地的气象站数据。这款新软件加入了自然资本项目已有的InVEST软件套装，专家可以用这套软件描绘和模拟大自然带给人类的种种益处。

为了测试Urban InVEST，该团队在全球多个城市使用了该软件：如法国巴黎、瑞士洛桑、中国深圳和广州，还有美国的若干城市，包括旧金山和明尼阿波利斯。许多情况下，他们与当地伙伴合作，以了解需要解决的首要问题。例如，在巴黎，参加市政选举的候选人正在就城市绿化的必要性进行游说;而在明尼阿波利斯，规划者们正在决定如何将之前未充分利用的高尔夫球场用地改作他用。

收益考量

在中国深圳，研究人员利用Urban InVEST软件来计算，当发生百年一遇的重大风暴灾害时，公园、草地和森林等自然基础设施如何帮助人们减少损失。研究人员发现，通过吸收降水、洪水引流，深圳的自然环境将有助于避免250亿美元的损失。研究人员还表示，在炎热的夏季，树木和公园等自然基础设施使深圳的每日气温降低了5.4华氏度（3摄氏度），平均每天为该市带来7.1万美元的环保效益。

解决不均问题

城市中的自然区域往往分布不均，这使低收入人群处于不利地位。有数据显示，低收入人群及边缘化社区的人们，在城市中接触到自然的机会往往更少。这就意味着他们无法像富裕人口一样，享有自然带来的好处，比如改善身心健康等。

在巴黎，研究人员观察了若干街区，这里的人们无法接触到自然区域。同时，研究人员将该区域人口收入及经济数据叠加，以了解哪些人能从自然中受益。该软件有助于确定在哪些地方投资建设更多的绿地（如公园和自行车道等），才能够公平且最有效地促进健康和福祉。

规划更绿色的未来

在明尼苏达州的明尼阿波利斯-圣保罗地区，高尔夫行业的收入正在下跌。低迷的经济为私人高尔夫球场创造了诱人的机会，那就是出售土地以供开发。但开发商们应该创建新的公园还是新的街区呢？Urban InVEST软件显示，与高尔夫球场相比，新的公园可以促进城市降温、保持河水清洁、帮助蜜蜂授粉，还能维持日益减少的生物多样性区域。但是，新的居住区将提高城市温度、污染淡水、减少蜜蜂和其他生物的栖息地。

健康的城市生态系统

Urban InVEST软件最近为一项评估提供了数据支持，评估自然将如何帮助775个欧洲城市进行碳存储和城市降温。

“相较于其他生态系统，城市更多是由人来设计的。”盖里说道，他也是上述论文的作者之一。“利用Urban InVEST，市政府能将自然的全部好处带给居民和游客。这样可以解决不平等问题，还能创建更有韧性的城市。无论是对人类还是自然来说，都会产生更好的长远效果。”

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）