The history and problems of developing the green infrastructure of cities located in the cryolithic zone of Western and Central Siberia

Abstract

The development of research-based approaches to the greening of cities built in the cryolithic zone was caused by the urbanization of USSR regions located in the Arctic and Subarctic climate. Over the past decades, the relevance of these approaches has been increasing due to the need for measures aimed at ensuring new standards of landscaping and environmental well-being of cities in the Russian Arctic. The main aim of this article is an integrated analysis of archival documents and scientific publications reflecting the evolution of research approaches and knowledge pertaining to the problems of greening cities built in the cryolithic zone of Western and Central Siberia in the period from the 1930s to the first quarter of the 21st century. The article describes the first attempts at greening the Arctic cities of Siberia made in the 1930s — 1950s and discusses approaches to zoning the green infrastructure of Arctic cities that have been developed in Russian science. The problems of studying the interaction of permafrost and vegetation in urban areas are analyzed. Based on examples of Siberian cities the paper examines problems of developing green infrastructure during the period of active urbanization of the Russian Arctic in the 1970s — 1980s. A brief overview is given of new approaches to urban greening in the Arctic cities in the first quarter of the 21st century. It is concluded that in recent decades, in most of the cities studied, there has been a trend towards a rise in vegetation characteristics such as NDVI and tree height compared with areas that have been left untouched. Researchers attribute this trend to factors such as regular planting of new trees and shrubs, targeted maintenance of green spaces, as well as the presence of urban heat islands and other favorable microclimatic conditions. It is concluded that such common factors as climate warming, an active introduction of alien plants into the urbanized environment and using new technologies for the improvement of northern cities contribute to the growth of opportunities for the development of the cities’ green infrastructure. At the same time, cryogenic processes and the way green infrastructure is developed in an urbanized environment are largely interdependent.