scholarly journals Mapping and Assessing Green Infrastructure Connectivity in European City Regions

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karsten Rusche ◽  
Mario Reimer ◽  
Rico Stichmann
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
European City ◽  
Open Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
The Past ◽  
City Regions ◽  
Urban Green Infrastructure

Urban green infrastructure is becoming an increasingly important concept for sustainable urban planning. In the past, planning practice and research have worked on defining principles and suggesting relevant indicators to promote the concept. While there has been a focus on multifunctionality of green infrastructure elements, the connectivity principle is underrepresented, especially in urban research. Therefore, this paper suggests land use indicators to map and assess the degree of connectivity of open spaces within the urban realm. Empirical results are presented for three European case studies. The relevance of connectivity indicators for urban green infrastructure planning is highlighted and linked to future needs for improving strategic urban planning.

scholarly journals Assessing Nature-Based Recreation to Support Urban Green Infrastructure Planning in Trento (Italy)

Land ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Cortinovis ◽  
Grazia Zulian ◽  
Davide Geneletti
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Parks ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Innovative Methods ◽  
Urban Green Infrastructure ◽  
The City

Nature-based recreation is among the most relevant ecosystem services supplied by urban green infrastructure, affecting citizens’ physical and mental wellbeing. Providing adequate green spaces for nature-based recreation is among the main goals of urban planning, but commonly-used indicators offer a partial view on the issue. Innovative methods and approaches, such as the ESTIMAP-recreation model, appear as promising ways to increase the quality of information available for decision-makers by considering both the range of green spaces that provide the service and the locally-specific demand. The article presents an application of the ESTIMAP-recreation model to the city of Trento (Italy), aimed at testing its adaptation to the local context and the potential improvements brought to urban planning. The comparison of the results with traditional indicators based on the availability and accessibility to urban parks shows significant differences in terms of priority of intervention across the city, with implications on planning decisions. The application demonstrates that innovative methods can enhance the understanding of nature-based recreation in cities beyond the focus on urban parks, revealing a wide portfolio of actions that planners can put in place to promote nature-based recreation through a multifunctional green infrastructure.

scholarly journals Mapping Urban Green Infrastructure: A Novel Landscape-Based Approach to Incorporating Land Use and Land Cover in the Mapping of Human-Dominated Systems

Land ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Dennis ◽  
David Barlow ◽  
Gina Cavan ◽  
Penny Cook ◽  
Anna Gilchrist ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Infrastructure

scholarly journals Urban Green Infrastructure and Green Open Spaces: An Issue of Social Fairness in Times of COVID-19 Crisis

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 10606
Author(s):  
Florian Reinwald ◽  
Daniela Haluza ◽  
Ulrike Pitha ◽  
Rosemarie Stangl
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Landscape Planning ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Open Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Urban Green Infrastructure

At the time of the restrictions and lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, it became apparent how difficult it is for city dwellers to adhere to the prescribed behavioural measures and the protective distance in densely built urban areas. Inner-city parks and green spaces were heavily used for recreational purposes and were thus periodically overcrowded. These observations highlight the need for green open spaces in urban areas, especially in exceptional situations regarding pandemics and climate-related heat periods. Green open spaces and greened buildings help cities and the population cope with the consequences of climate change and have a decisive positive effect on human health and well-being. This paper aims to outline which social issues are related to the availability of green infrastructure close to home and which health consequences need to be considered. The COVID-19 challenges could offer a chance and an opportunity to increase the resilience of cities and their inhabitants in various terms. A cross-disciplinary team of authors (public health, urban and landscape planning, landscaping and vegetation technologies science) describes and discusses challenges and opportunities that arise from this crisis for cities from an inter-disciplinary perspective, concluding that urban green infrastructure helps in two ways: to adapt to climate change and the challenges posed by COVID-19.

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