202 URBAN SOILS
URBAN SOILS
J L Morel, C Schwartz, and L Florentin,
Laboratoire Sols et Environnement ENSAIA-INPL/INRA,
France
C de Kimpe, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,
Ottawa, ON, Canada
ß 2005, Elsevier Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
Soils in urban and suburban areas are transformed by
human activities. For several decades, soil surveys and
research were largely focused on agricultural and for-
est lands, and intensively managed and disturbed soils
were not much investigated as revealed by the white
(nonmapped) areas representing cities on most soil
maps. Urban soils are used for many purposes, in-
cluding urban and industrial activities, forestry, and
agriculture. They are characterized by a strong spatial
heterogeneity resulting from the various inputs of
exogenous materials and the mixing of original soil
material. The basic functions of natural and exten-
sively modified soils are essentially the same. The
evolution of urban soils is controlled by the same
factors as natural soils, but the human factor imposes
extremely rapid transformation cycles in comparison
with those dominant under natural conditions. They
often hold pollutants that may be a threat to human
health. Anthropogenic soils can be investigated at
least in part with traditional soil survey approaches;
however these methods must be properly adapted and
new methodology must still be developed. It is only
through a multidisciplinary approach that urban soils
will be better understood and their use optimized to
protect human health and the quality of natural re-
sources, e.g., preventing groundwater contamination.
Definition
‘Urban soils’ is a class of Anthropic soils, a term
already used in several classification systems. Urban
soils are soils extensively influenced by human activ-
ities, found mostly but not only in urban areas. They
include: (1) soils that are composed of a mixture of
materials differing from those in adjacent agricultural
or forest areas, and that may present a surface layer
greater than 50 cm, highly transformed by human
activity through mixing, importing, and exporting
material, and by contamination; (2) soils in parks
and gardens that are closer to agricultural soils but
offer different composition, use, and management
than agricultural soils; and (3) soils that result from
various construction activities in urban areas and that
Figure 1 Urban soils and agricultural soils: (a) urban soil pro-
file showing a sealed surface, imported soil materials, and elec-
tric wires; (b) agricultural soil profile showing strong perturbation
induced by the incorporation of plastic drains.
are often sealed. According to this definition, urban
soils are essentially under strong human influence in
urban and suburban environments; they may exert a
strong effect on human health, on plants and soil
organisms, and on water infiltration. They are differ-
entiated from other strongly influenced soils such as
those found in quarries, mines, and mine tailings, and
airfields away from cities. However, it is sometimes
difficult to set a clear boundary between urban soils
and agricultural soils (Figure 1).
Use of Soils in Urban Areas
In cities, soils provide support for infrastructure
(buildings, roads, railways, parking lots, bridges),
shelter for cables (electricity, telephone, television)
and pipes of various size and composition (drinking
water, wastewater, gas), and substrate for plants (iso-
lated trees along streets, trees in public parks, and
ornamental and edible plants in public and private
gardens). They are also used for agricultural (horti-
culture, suburban agriculture, gardening), and indus-
trial (buildings, mining, industrial waste disposal)
production activities, and for recreation (stadiums,
playgrounds). For centuries, the regions surrounding
residential areas have been used for provision of
construction materials and domestic waste disposal.
There are numerous soil types in urban areas as
a result of these various uses, which differ in the
intensity and duration of human impact. Human
impact on urban soils may be light (e.g., urban
forests) or, in contrast, maximal in developed built

areas (e.g., sealed and artificial soils). Therefore, soils
in a city differ according to the degree of human
transformation. In general, artificiality increases
from the periphery to the center of the city, where
original soils are often removed and replaced by an-
thropogenic materials. Older cities show the most
modified soils, as they are generally constructed on
their own waste materials that have accumulated over
the years. For example, cities like Paris and Moscow
are built on several meters of anthropogenic materials
that hold remains of former human activities and
materials.
Another main feature of urban soils is the high
frequency of usage change with time. An example is
the conversion of former industrial sites (now termed
‘brownfield’ sites) to new activities, including residen-
tial, public, and recreational activities. Such intensive
changes are often dramatic and may cause problems
for residents as a result of possible soil contamination.
Landfills located at the periphery of cities are, know-
ingly or not, frequently converted to residential devel-
opment as a result of the pressure of increasing urban
population. This may result in increasing risks for
residents from contamination through direct contact,
inhalation, and/or consumption of garden produce.
Evolution of Soils in Urban Areas
As known from traditional soil science, a soil is
the outcome of the evolution of a parent mineral
material under the influence of climate, vegetation,
topography, and time. Soils generally display a se-
quence of layers with an organically enriched surface
horizon. Soil formation is generally a slow process
that involves typically three main processes:
weathering, transport, and accumulation. Differences
in climatic conditions, parent rocks, and topography
are at the origin of a wide range of soil types de-
veloped under natural conditions and, in general,
the soil type can be deduced from knowledge of the
conditions that have controlled its formation.
The three fundamental processes of formation (cli-
mate, parent rock, topography) and evolution of soils
also apply to urban soils. However, urban soil forma-
tion is strongly influenced by the ‘human factor’
(Figure 2), which often creates a new ‘parent rock’
(e.g., debris from former buildings or industrial
wastes), and modifies the conditions of its evolution
through its influence on water circulation and com-
position in urban areas. The influence of the ‘human
factor’ can also be interpreted in terms of soil forma-
tion and evolution: (1) weathering: transformation of
the original material by mixing, compaction, or aer-
ation of material layers; (2) transport: excavation of
soil layers, leading to the partial or total elimination
URBAN SOILS 203
Figure 2 Urban soil formation and evolution.
of the original soil profile; and (3) accumulation:
addition of exogenous materials from various origins
(soil materials, minerals, technological compounds,
and inert, organic, or toxic wastes). The kinetics of
these processes are very rapid in comparison to nat-
ural processes, as a result of the increasing use of
modern equipment, like tractors and bulldozers.
A week or even a day is often the time scale required
to modify completely the urban landscape. Hetero-
geneity in the landscape and in the soil may therefore
change rapidly. Digging for new buildings, bringing in
material from large distances for landscaping, dispos-
ing of rubbish, debris and topsoil for leveling and
preparing the land for a new use often prevent any
relation with the original parent material in the vicin-
ity of the site being examined. Under such conditions,
the natural weathering mechanism of soil formation
does not play a great role if any, whereas transport
and accumulation are predominant.
Another main feature of urban soils is the construc-
tion of barriers, e.g., sidewalk, which notably reduces
the infiltration of water in soil, and increases its
transport to streams, often causing flooding prob-
lems. Oxidizing conditions generally dominate in ur-
ban soils as a result of lack of water in the soil profile.
However, soil compaction and leakage of drinking or
wastewater from pipes may induce locally strong
changes in redox and water flux conditions.
Composition and Heterogeneity of
Urban Soils
The composition of soils in the cities depends largely
on the nature of the materials in which they are deve-
loped. Coarse textures, with mostly sand and coarser
material (rubble and gravel), generate great horizon-
tal as well as vertical heterogeneity. This is a frequent
characteristic of urban soils. Bulk density is generally
low (<0.5) or very high (>1.60) as a function of the
parent material. As an example, Figure 3 shows a soil
204 URBAN SOILS

agricultural soil

Ap agricultural soil

agricultural soil

Figure 3 Soil profile in a twelfth-century urban area (Nancy, France).

Figure 4 Soil profile and metal concentrations (mg kg
1) in a former industrial site.

profile observed from a pit excavated for building
construction in the city of Nancy, France. The soil
exhibited a depth of more than 7 m and consisted of
six distinct horizons. The three horizons at the
bottom were the relic of a former agricultural soil. It
presented a clear Ap horizon (15 cm) colored by or-
ganic matter, very compacted and weakly calcareous
as a result of former agricultural practices or addition
of calcareous construction material. The second hori-
zon was not calcareous and offered a higher porosity
with galleries of earthworms. The three upper hori-
zons (0 to 1 m) were successive depositions of raw
material. They were very heterogeneous and made of
earthy material of sandy clay texture dominated by
more than 80% of fine material. They were rich in
organic matter and presented a brownish color. Nu-
merous tree roots were present. The second horizon
was strongly compacted and the third was character-
ized by the presence of building material of lighter
density with fragments of dark gray schists coated
with clayey sands.
Another example is given by a soil developed on a
former industrial site (Figure 4). With the exception
of the two upper horizons made of agricultural soil
material brought in to facilitate the revegetation of
the site, most of the material was of anthropogenic
 URBAN SOILS 205

origin, deposited during industrial activity and mixed Table 1 Concentration of metals in the profile of an urban soil
and compacted at the closing of the factory. Many (see Figure 3)
types of debris are present, including concrete, metal Cd Cu Cr Hg Ni Pb Zn
wires, slag, and industrial sand, each offering specific
Depth (cm) (mg kg
1)
physical (density, porosity, mechanical resistance) and
chemical properties (nutrients, metals, organic pollut- 20 0.67 66.2 65.0 2.00 28.3 415.1 325.7
ants). In general, the analysis shows the high pH that 175 0.08 11.8 39.5 0.04 24.5 28.4 50.4
199 0.75 41.0 59.7 0.06 50.0 21.4 119.3
is a common feature in anthropic soils, often as the
215 0.26 20.2 44.7 0.04 28.6 26.6 70.4
result of alkalizing products mixed in the soil. Or- 294 0.11 15.0 54.0 0.02 32.6 24.3 63.4
ganic matter content may be high, and the C/N ratio 725 0.03 5.8 25.7 0.02 13.4 26.0 32.1
is generally high because of the presence of organic
material low in N, especially in industrial soil mate- ver valores orientadores dos metais pesados nos solos brasileiros.
rial; these high values are often due to contamination in the upper horizon as a result of the various urban
with oily wastes. activities, including traffic and water runoff from zinc
roofs.
Urban soils have different retention capacities for
Soil Contamination in Urban Areas
organic components, but their alkaline reaction often
Because of their diversified origin, urban soils may limits the mobility of heavy metals. In most urban
contain pollutants, the location, characteristics (in- soils, a pH shift to alkalinity constitutes an alkaline
cluding availability), and potential evolution (carbonate) geochemical barrier in the topsoil. This
of which must be established properly for future barrier hinders the mobilization of heavy metals.
land use. Urban and suburban soils prompt a strong Methods developed for agricultural soils (such as
interest because of the growing public concern about plant tests, selective extraction, microbiological and
the environment and human health. For example, enzymatic tests) may be adapted for assessing the risk
urban horticulture provides a nonnegligible percent- of transfer of pollutants to the food chain.
age of the food supply to large populations, especially
in developing countries, and there is a need to
Garden soils
improve this type of production while ensuring its
safety, as well as addressing the issues related to a Gardens are a place of strong interactions between
wide range of land uses. Also, in urban areas children soils and human activities. In general, a very intensive
are often in direct contact with soil material, and soil form of agriculture is conducted, resulting in soils
quality (pollutants, pathogens) in playgrounds may with high fertility and great diversity, deriving from
affect their health. Some urban soils, in particular the multiplicity of gardening practices. Soil quality
those observed on brownfields where they were pre- (i.e., nutrient and pollutant content) in gardens is
viously used as support for industrial production, related to the quality of the parent materials, but
may contain large amounts of mineral and organic through various inputs and modifications of the soil
pollutants that accumulated over time. The profile of profile, the gardener is the most important factor in
the industrial site described above contains elevated soil quality. Inputs range from traditional agricul-
amounts of some metals (Cd, Pb, and Zn), especially tural amendments and chemicals (manure, lime,
in the horizons made of industrial material, e.g., slag. pesticides, fertilizers) to domestic wastes and indus-
Also organic contaminants (e.g., hydrocarbons, poly- trial amendments that may contain several inorganic
chlorobiphenyls, herbicides) are commonly found in and organic contaminants. In general, rates of amend-
urban soils; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ment application are far higher than in traditional
(PAHs), a special class of hydrocarbons, some of agriculture production, and garden soils tend to ex-
which exhibit carcinogenic properties, are found in hibit a deep upper horizon with a high concentration
some former industrial sites (e.g., gasworks, coking of organic matter and mineral nutrients, e.g., nitrogen
plants). The soil shown in Figure 4 was also contam- and available phosphorus. In general, the organic
inated by lead and zinc (Pb and Zn), two metals matter content is directly related to the age of the
widely present in urban areas (Table 1). An urban garden. Therefore, the soil quality, hence fertility, of
soil profile studied in the city of Nancy showed the garden soils is as variable as gardening practices. This
influence of the material in place or brought in. These may be reflected by the biomass production of lettuce
materials contributed to modifying the content of grown on various soil samples collected from a set of
metals in the profile. The metal concentrations in gardens (Figure 5). But pollutants may also accumu-
the urban soil were lower than in the industrial site, late in garden soils and be transferred to the food
but metals were present at significant concentrations chain by direct consumption of vegetables.
206 URBAN SOILS
Heavy metals tend to accumulate in garden soils
and, in general, their concentration is on average
twice that in agricultural soils, probably because
of the input of various amendments to the garden
soils (Figure 6). As for fertility, contamination is
highly variable from one garden to another. This can
be observed from the analysis of a set of soil samples
collected from family gardens located in the Lorraine
region (France) and in the nearby Saarland region
(Germany) that showed a wide range of values, prob-
ably due to gardener practices and the proximity
of industries. Soil physical properties and accumula-
tion of heavy metals in the Ap horizon depend on
parent material, substrates, and anthropogenic modi-
fications. In Saarbrücken, only 18% of the garden
soils were natural soils. Also metal concentration
correlated well with soil fertility, as expressed by the
total and available phosphorus contents (Figure 7).
Finally, the content of heavy metals can be explained
in decreasing order of importance by the age of
the garden, previous use of the garden (including
Figure 5 Biomass production of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) grown
on a set of soil samples collected in family gardens in the
Lorraine region (France).
Figure 6 Frequency distribution of copper concentration in garden soils.
practices of the gardeners), natural concentration of
metals in the soils, and atmospheric deposition.
Functions of Urban Soils
The link between soil functions and various soil prop-
erties such as substrate, texture, and humus content
for soils at urban, industrial, and mining sites can be
made using a set of indicators of soil quality such as
those developed in Germany: rooting depth, wetting
and aeration, nutrient status, and acid neutralization
capacity. The high degree of surface sealing in urban
soils limits the water partitioning that normally exists
under natural conditions. Reduced seepage towards
the subsurface causes high surface runoff and floods.
Attempts are made to reduce this effect by increasing
rainwater infiltration and groundwater recharge, and
by reducing discharge by increasing water retention.
Water and air supply in urban soils, an important
feature for plant and tree growth, are controlled by
bulk density, amount of medium, coarse, and very
coarse mottles, organic matter content, and texture
expressed as contents of clay, silt, and sand.
Urban soils are characterized by a great ecological
heterogeneity, and show special distinctness of vege-
tation and fauna. They are habitats for plants and soil
organisms, and for their filtering, buffering, and
transforming of organic and inorganic pollutants.
The root depth is, however, often limited due to
abrupt horizon transitions, especially in the presence
of a large percentage of coarse material (>2 mm). As
a medium for plant growth, urban soil supports a
large population of amenity vegetation in diversified
habitats, including parks, gardens, roadsides, and turf
areas. Much of the urban vegetation is cultivated, but
there are also relics from natural vegetation or spon-
taneous infestation by opportunistic species.
Regional soils (n ¼ 185); garden soils (n ¼ 233).

Figure 7 Relation between phosphorus and zinc and copper
contents in garden soils.
The habitats may create stresses to vegetation sur-
vival: whereas normal root spread requires a circular
soil disk preferably with a diameter equivalent to the
crown spread and one meter deep, most urban tree
roots are closeted in a narrow and shallow strip of
substandard soil. In urbanized areas, roots of isolated
trees are often sequestered in a restricted space; lat-
eral room space is hindered, with a narrow strip,
often less than 2 m, of poor-quality soil sandwiched
between building foundations and highly compacted
road material. The subsurface material quality is
also often ignored. The presence of mortar, concrete,
and asphalt attests to the widespread contamination
of sites by construction debris that poses a physical
hindrance to root development. Also the volume for
water and nutrient storage is largely diminished.
Pedology and Archeology
Contrary to the situation in natural and slightly modi-
fied soils, e.g., agricultural or forest soils that most
often display distinguishable horizons, a major chal-
lenge in urban soils, not only for their characteriza-
tion, but also for determining their potential uses, is
the heterogeneity of the layers associated with the fact
that the latter are not always horizontal (Figure 3).
Heterogeneity can also be very large within a single
layer. This prompts a number of questions: what is an
urban soil profile? What is an urban pedon? What
area, both horizontally and vertically, is required for
its description? What volume of soil is necessary for
its characterization? How to describe the texture of
urban soil, in particular the material coarser than sand?
The presence of rubble may indeed confer special
properties, and prevent some future uses of the soil.
Concepts must be properly developed in order to
develop a suitable and useful classification scheme.
Soil description involves the characterization of
the successive layers with a specific composition.
Urban soils are thus polycyclic soils composed by
URBAN SOILS 207
Figure 8 Urban soils in old cities are developed on waste
material.
the superposition of several young soils (Figure 8).
Using this approach, and as long as the human factor
is clearly established, an urban soil survey is not
strikingly different from a traditional soil survey:
urban soils are the ultimate members of a continuum
characterized by increasing human influence, and
ranging from soils slightly or not affected by human
influence (forests, rangeland) to agricultural lands
and to urban soils where the human imprint is max-
imum, and where most natural features have often
disappeared. For example, during early city develop-
ment in previous centuries, when large machinery and
transportation facilities were not available, rubble
and debris were often disposed of at the site or at a
short distance: cities were actually built on their own
wastes. Therefore, the soils may contain layers or
strata reflecting the processes that ruled the accumu-
lation and such layers are the ‘memory’ of past activ-
ities: each layer corresponds to sedimentary materials
representing an urban soil, generally poorly de-
veloped but significantly influenced by people.
Soils contain a large array of historical informa-
tion, which has been proved very useful in under-
standing ecological and anthropological evolution.
The materials brought about by human activities
may also undergo pedological evolution leading to
their significant transformation. In general, archeolo-
gists and pedologists have had only a few interactions
in the past. Combining pedology and archeology by
sharing research tools will increase our understanding
of human evolution and help to predict better the
problems connected to urban soils. Each layer of an
urban soil contains products that are characteristics
of the technological evolution of human societies.
Combining archeology and pedology enables predic-
tion of the location of some pollutants, such as heavy
metals (Pb, Cu, Zn) and their fate in the profile.
Management of Urban Soils
The world is in the midst of a massive urban transi-
tion unlike that of any other time in history. In 1975,
approximately one-third of the world’s people lived in
urban areas. By 2025, the proportion will have risen
to almost two-thirds, which corresponds to more
208 URBAN SOILS
than 5 billion people, mostly in developing countries.
In developed countries, the population shift involves
migration away from concentrated urban zones to
large, sprawling metropolitan regions. Since the be-
ginning of the twentieth century, the French popula-
tion has increased considerably in cities, and it
amounts to up to 70% of the population. In these
large cities, as well as in smaller ones, green and open
spaces play an important role as recreation areas, and
they are the ‘lungs’ of urbanites. In the above context,
characterizing the land that provides the infrastruc-
ture for these growing cities becomes particularly
important. It is also a challenge: industrial and service
businesses that are often located at the outskirts of the
cities or in the suburbs near workers and employees
are not particularly welcome amidst the new urban
developments, and they are forced to move to a
greater distance. This is favoring the emergence of
brownfield sites, lands and buildings contaminated
by previous industrial activities. Such areas are then
recycled and often used for other human activities,
that may present various risks for health. Waste dis-
posal, especially the accumulation in landfills outside
cities, creates similar concerns.
Within urban and suburban areas, soils are used as
physical support for diverse anthropocentric activities
and needs: infrastructure both at the soil surface and
underground (e.g., roads, parking lots, railroads,
pipes, sewers, ducts) and for buildings, sources (e.g.,
topsoil, landfill material from excavation) and sinks
(e.g., dredged sediments, compost of organic urban
wastes) of raw materials, food production, recre-
ational activities (e.g., parks, landscaping), and mem-
ory and cultural heritage (e.g., cemeteries). Soil
scientists have the expertise, as well as the social
responsibility, to address issues related to these uses.
See also: Applications of Soils Data; Land-Use
Classification
Further Reading
Arbeitskreis Stadtböden (1988) Substrate und Sub-
stratmerkmale von Böden der Stadt- und Industriege-
biete. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Bodenkundlichen
Gesellschaft 56: 311–316.
Bullock P and Gregory PJ (1991) Soils in the Urban Envir-
onment. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.
Burghardt W (1994) Soils in urban and industrial environ-
ments. Zeitschrift für Pflanzenernährug und Boden-
kunde 157: 205–214.
Burghardt W, Zuzok A, and Heinen P (1987) Untersuchun-
gen zur Kennzeichnung der Anreicherung und Verteilung
von Schwermetallen in urbanen Böden. Landschaft þ
Stadt 30–38.
Craul PJ (1992) Urban Soil in Landscape Design. New
York: John Wiley.
De Kimpe C and Morel JL (2000) Urban soils: a growing
concern. Soil Science 165: 31–40.
FAO-UNESCO (1990) Soil Map of the World – Revised
Legend. Rome: FAO.
Guillerme A (1999) Histoire du sol urbain. Comptes
Rendus de l’Académie d’Agriculture de France 85:
129–140.
Hiller DA and Burghardt W (1993) Neues Leben im toten
Boden. Die Geowissenschaften 1: 10–16.
Hollis JM (1992) Proposals for the classification, descrip-
tion and mapping of soils in urban areas. English Nature
Science 2(4): 40.
United Nations (UN) Population Division (1995) World Ur-
banization Prospects: The 1994 Revision, pp. 132–139.
New York: UN.
World Resources Institute (1996) Cities and the environ-
ment. In: World Resources 1996–97, pp. 1–30. New
York: Oxford University Press.