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Soil in the City: Sustainably Improving Urban Soils
Author(s) -
Kumar Kuldip,
Hundal Lakhwinder S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq2015.11.0589
Subject(s) - soil water , environmental science , sustainability , hydrology (agriculture) , soil science , geology , geotechnical engineering , ecology , biology
Large tracts of abandoned urban land, resulting from the deindustrialization of metropolitan areas, are generating a renewed interest among city planners and community organizations envisioning the productive use of this land not only to produce fresh food but to effectively manage stormwater and mitigate the impact of urban heat islands. Healthy and productive soils are paramount to meet these objectives. However, these urban lands are often severely degraded due to anthropogenic activities and are generally contaminated with priority pollutants, especially heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Characterizing these degraded and contaminated soils and making them productive again to restore the required ecosystem services was the theme of the “Soil in the City— 2014” conference organized by W‐2170 Committee (USDA's Sponsored Multi‐State Research Project: Soil‐Based Use of Residuals, Wastewater, & Reclaimed Water). This special section of Journal of Environmental Quality comprises 12 targeted papers authored by conference participants to make available much needed information about the characteristics of urban soils. Innovative ways to mitigate the risks from pollutants and to improve the soil quality using local resources are discussed. Such practices include the use of composts and biosolids to grow healthy foods, reclaim brownfields, manage stormwater, and improve the overall ecosystem functioning of urban soils. These papers provide a needed resource for educating policymakers, practitioners, and the general public about using locally available resources to restore fertility, productivity, and ecosystem functioning of degraded urban land to revitalize metropolitan areas for improving the overall quality of life for a large segment of a rapidly growing urban population. Core Ideas Urban soils are contaminated by priority pollutants due to anthropogenic activities. Urban soils quality can be improved by using local resources such as composts and biosolids. Improving soils is key to improving the overall ecosystem functioning in urban areas. These papers are a resource for policymakers, practitioners, and the general public.