(Press-News.org)
In rapidly growing cities like Tokyo, incorporating greenery is a challenging task. With limited space for trees or parks, vertical greening—the placement of vegetation on building façades—has become a creative solution to reintroduce nature into crowded urban settings. However, until now, there has been no clear method to assess where this type of greenery is most needed or most effective.
To address this challenge, researchers from Chiba University in Japan have created a data-driven spatial framework that identifies the best locations for vertical greening throughout Tokyo's 23 wards. The study, made available online on September 6, 2025, and published in Volume 132 of the journal Sustainable Cities and Society on September 15, 2025, provides the first citywide map of vertical greenery in one of the world’s densest metropolitan areas.
The research team—led by Professor Katsunori Furuya, along with Ms. Ruochen Ma, Ms. Yunchen Xu, Ms. Yan Tang, Mr. Sihan Zhang, and Ms. Yuhui Liao from the Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University, Japan—used artificial intelligence to analyze more than 80,000 Google Street View images. Using a deep-learning model (YOLOv8), they detected façades featuring vegetation, such as green walls and balcony plants, to create a detailed spatial inventory of Tokyo’s vertical greening systems.
“With this study, we aimed to provide a clearer picture of how vertical greenery is distributed in dense urban areas like Tokyo and how it aligns—or fails to align—with environmental needs,” explains Prof. Furuya. “By combining AI-based image analysis with spatial data, we can now pinpoint where greening efforts could make the greatest difference.”
The researchers introduced a new metric called the vertical greening demand index (VGDI), which evaluates where additional greening could reduce urban heat most effectively and improve environmental quality. The VGDI integrates multiple factors, such as land use, building density, surface temperature, and pedestrian exposure to heat.
Their findings revealed an uneven distribution of vertical greenery across the city. While commercial and residential zones in central Tokyo had some vegetated façades, several heat-prone and lower-income neighborhoods had far less greenery, highlighting the need for a more equitable distribution. The team also identified “priority greening zones,” where adding vertical vegetation could reduce surface temperatures and improve thermal comfort for residents.
“Our analysis shows that vertical greening is not just an architectural feature—it’s an environmental necessity,” says Prof. Furuya. “With data-driven planning, city authorities can target specific areas to enhance cooling, biodiversity, and overall urban resilience.”
The framework’s implications extend beyond Tokyo. As compact cities around the world face rising temperatures and limited ground space, similar data-driven tools can guide the selection of sites for vertical greening to achieve maximum benefit. Policymakers can use indices like the VGDI to inform building regulations, urban renewal projects, and greening incentive programs.
In the long run, such approaches could reshape how cities address the growing challenges of climate change. “Expanding greenery within existing built environments is one of the most urgent urban challenges today,” adds Prof. Furuya. “Over the next decade, combining AI and spatial analysis will help governments and designers plan greener, cooler, and more livable cities.”
The study also highlights the importance of accessibility and fairness in urban environmental planning. By visualizing where greenery is lacking, the framework allows for more transparent and equitable decision-making. As cities worldwide strive toward sustainability goals, data-driven tools like this can help ensure that the benefits of urban greening reach all residents—not just those in wealthier districts.
Overall, this work marks an important step toward integrating artificial intelligence with urban ecology and planning. In the future, researchers hope to refine the model by including more environmental parameters, such as air quality and energy savings, and extending it to other megacities that face similar urban heat challenges.
To see more news from Chiba University, visit https://www.cn.chiba-u.jp/en/news/
About Professor Katsunori Furuya from Chiba University, Japan
Dr. Katsunori Furuya is a Professor in Landscape Planning at the Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University, Japan. He earned his Bachelor of Agriculture in Landscape Architecture in 1985, Master of Agriculture in Landscape Architecture in 1988, and Ph.D. in Environmental Planning in 1991—all from Chiba University. His research focuses on nature conservation, landscape planning and architecture, environmental education, urban green space, ecotourism, and public participation. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers and 14 books, with more than 1,000 citations. Among his distinctions are the Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture Award and Chiba University’s Best Teacher Award.
END
People with cancer who received diabetes care from clinical pharmacists achieved significantly better blood sugar control, according to new research from the University of California San Diego. The study, published in Diabetes Spectrum on Oct. 30, 2025 found that patients referred to a diabetes management and education clinic led by pharmacists saw meaningful improvements in blood sugar levels over time, underscoring the critical role pharmacists can play in supporting this high-risk group.
“Cancer and hyperglycemia can be a harmful combination,” said Christina Mnatzaganian, Pharm.D., health sciences clinical professor at UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical ...
A child’s early gut microbiome may influence their risk of developing depression, anxiety or other internalizing symptoms in middle childhood, according to a new UCLA Health study. The effect appears to be related to the way bacteria are linked to communication across emotion-related brain networks.
Published in the journal Nature Communications, the observational study found that young children whose gut microbiome had higher representation of bacteria in the Clostridiales order and Lachnospiraceae family were at higher risk of experiencing ...
Scientists have long sought to make semiconductors—vital components in computer chips and solar cells—that are also superconducting, thereby enhancing their speed and energy efficiency and enabling new quantum technologies. However, achieving superconductivity in semiconductor materials such as silicon and germanium has proved challenging due to difficulty in maintaining an optimal atomic structure with the desired conduction behavior.
In a newly published paper in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, ...
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Obesity is a global epidemic affecting millions of people every day and is associated with comorbidities ranging from heart disease and Type 2 diabetes to osteoarthritis and social stigma. While lifestyle factors, like diet and exercise, affect obesity, years of genetic research have identified about 20 genes that have a high effect on the likelihood of a person developing the condition.
Now, a new study published today (Oct. 30) in Nature Communications, by researchers at Penn State, involving about 850,000 adults ...
One of the most common antidepressants, sertraline, contributes to a modest improvement in core depression and anxiety symptoms, including low mood, within two weeks, finds a new analysis of a major clinical trial led by UCL researchers.
The study, published in Nature Mental Health, analysed the findings of the PANDA trial, which first published results in 2019 and found that sertraline may have an earlier impact on anxiety than depressive symptoms.* Researchers have now conducted a network analysis of the results, which is an innovative statistical method that allowed them to explore how specific symptoms respond to treatment.
The ...
Scientists have paved the way for next-generation quantum circuits by successfully making a semiconducting element commonly used in electrical devices superconducting.
A research team from The University of Queensland’s School of Mathematics and Physics and Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and New York University have shown germanium can conduct electricity without resistance.
The discovery, which had eluded physicists for more than 60 years, unifies the building blocks of classical electronics and quantum ...
Australian researchers have created tiny compartments to help supercharge photosynthesis, potentially boosting wheat and rice yields while slashing water and nitrogen use.
Researchers from Associate Professor Yu Heng Lau’s group at the University of Sydney and Professor Spencer Whitney’s group at Australian National University have spent five years tackling a fundamental problem: how can we make plants fix carbon more efficiently?
The team engineered nanoscale ‘offices' that can ...
New research has found that microbial communities in soil have the capacity to remember and adapt to past environmental events, helping plants to withstand drought stress.
Experts from the University of Nottingham's School of Biosciences in collaboration with scientists from the University of Kansas found that soil microbes carry a long-term memory of past climate, and that this memory can shape how some plants respond to new droughts. The findings have been published today in Nature Microbiology.
Droughts ...
URBANA, Ill. — Airplane travel is more popular than ever, and our desire for fast transportation means jet fuel has become a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have discovered a novel way to address that problem—by converting food waste into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that meets industry standards without relying on fossil fuel blends. Their process, described in a new Nature Communications study, could help the aviation industry meet its ambitious ...
Press release under embargo until 30/10/25 10:00 UK time
We learn physical skills by feeling rewarded, even in the absence of a reward, finds new study
People master new physical skills, such as sports, crafts or controlling a vehicle while driving, by blending lessons learnt from both feedback on the amount of error they had in failures and the rewards of successes, even when reward cues are removed, according to a new study led by Dr Shlomi Haar from the University of Surrey.
Using a high-tech virtual reality pool setup, researchers from Surrey and Imperial College London had 32 participants play pool on a physical table while wearing a virtual ...
