The discourses,opportunities, and constraints in Canberra’s Green Infrastructure planning

Nowadays, Australian state and local governments consider Green Infrastructure (GI) planning as a mitigation and adaptation approach to make cities more resilient. Moreover, decision-makers have acknowledged and addressed social values, biodiversity, and habitat connectivity in policy documents. Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), is a unique Australian city since it is totally designed as the National Capital of Australia and is built on a grassland plain, inspired by the Garden City concept. The green and open spaces have a symbolic value, representing Canberra as the national capital. However, Canberra is experiencing increasing urban development pressure, which threatens its green and open spaces. Thus, it is critical to explore the GI status in governance and decision-making in Canberra to guide its future planning. This research explores ten policy documents using a reflexive analysis to interpretatively critique policy documents and to diagnose the existing opportunities and constraints in Canberra’s GI planning. The documents were selected from 4 main defined scopes, Australian Government land-use responsibilities, ACT Government land-use planning and strategy, ACT Government greenspace planning, and Tree management regulations and mechanisms. This research identified dual governance (national/territory) and dual nature character (native/exotic) in the policy documents, which has intensified the complexity of GI planning. Another constraint was the lack of district level planning and a structured bottom-up approach. More flexibility in governance and collaboration between different governance levels and agencies is needed to make a more effective GI network, using the existing opportunities such as open space systems. Although GI principles have been addressed at Canberra’s strategic level, more comprehensive GI planning is needed to address all types of greenspaces.     

Aligning fragmented planning structures through a green infrastructure approach to urban development in the UK and USA

Globally green infrastructure (GI) planning has developed with alternative conceptual and implementation viewpoints. In the UK and USA this has led to the establishment of a dual narrative; one identifies a set of conceptual principles within the wider global GI debate, whilst the second focusses on localised interpretations of these principles within divergent delivery approaches. Such plurality adds a level of complexity to the development of GI policy and subsequent investments, which can be understood if both narratives are debated simultaneously. A number of factors have influenced this process; the most prominent being the dislocation between GI policies, practice and funding. This paper addresses this fragmentation proposing that a ‘policy-implementation’ gap exists within national and sub-national planning practice which limits the transferability of global principles into delivery. Therefore although the conceptual understanding of GI is grounded in the global literature, greater variability is evident in the application of these principles within localised (i.e. national, regional and sub-regional) planning. The paper extends this debate through a discussion of whether a consensus for the conceptual advancement and implementation of GI is a necessary aim of its development. It concludes that such plurality of understanding is both a positive and negative attributes of GI planning, highlighting the complexity of attempts to align global and local development narratives for GI.     

Negotiating the green obstacle course: Ranking priorities and problems for municipal green infrastructure implementation

This paper sets out the results of a study exploring, and ranking in order of perceived significance, the priorities and obstacles faced by smaller cities when implementing green infrastructure (GI) projects. The study captured the views of 49 municipal officers and elected representatives in cities of less than 500,000 population across four countries in northwest Europe, using a closed card sorting methodology as part of a semi-structured interview format. The results show a clear hierarchy in priorities, with particular attention paid to anthropocentric benefits to residents, especially the importance of aesthetics and liveability as a key objective in GI delivery, and the desirability of securing visible benefit to residents within the electoral cycle; longer-term objectives linked to environmental and economic challenges, although acknowledged in corporate policies, attract a lower priority when it comes to delivery, and may encounter trade-offs against other desired benefits. The greatest obstacle to GI delivery is not funding, as found in other studies, although this remains significant; rather, it is difficulty of collaborations and fragmentation within the city organisation which participants attributed to a lack of leadership and prioritisation of green initiatives. Capacity is also a clear issue, and the results highlight a lack of resources (including funding) but also skills in assembling evidence in support of projects, and staff time to bid for and deliver new GI proposals. When comparing these findings to others from larger cities, particularly those with a population over 1 million, the results suggest differences in prioritisation, critical mass, resources and capabilities and capacities influencing GI implementation, these are important to consider as they may prevent transferability of GI best practices from larger cities, who tend to be more active and innovative, to smaller scale cities. Co-production of knowledge, could offer considerable potential to improve GI implementation, but the design of any such schemes should recognise the issue of capacity by providing resources to allow participation of practitioners in smaller municipalities. Finally, respondents highlighted increasing environmental awareness of local communities and whilst the effect of this is yet to be seen, this was considered as having considerable potential in improving GI implementation in smaller municipalities.     

Green infrastructure practices for improvement of urban air quality

Green Infrastructure (GI) practices have shown to be promising in mitigating the air pollution in urban areas of several cities across the world. GI practices such as trees, green roofs and green walls are widely used in United States and Europe to mitigate the air pollution. However, there is yet limited knowledge available in identifying the most suitable GI strategy for an urban area in improving the air quality. Furthermore, it is evident that Australia is still lagging behind in adapting GI to mitigate air pollution, compared with US and Europe. Therefore, this study analyzed the air quality improvement through several GI scenarios consisting of trees, green roofs and green walls considering a case study area in Melbourne, Australia by using the i-Tree Eco software. The results were compared with case studies in different cities across the world. The results showed that the i-Tree Eco software can be successfully applied to an Australian case study area to quantify the air quality improvement benefits of GI. The results were further assessed with several environmental, economic and social indicators to identify the most suitable GI scenarios for the study area. These indicators were quantified using different methods, to assess the effectiveness of different GI scenarios. The results showed that, trees provided the highest air pollution removal capability among the different GI considered for the study area. Combination of different GI such as green roofs and green walls with trees did not provide a significant increment of air quality improvement however, has provided more local benefits such as building energy savings. The results obtained from this study were also beneficial in developing policies related to future GI applications in major cities of Australia for the air quality improvement.     

Developing a green infrastructure equity index to promote equity planning

The Philadelphia Water Department has committed to taking a green infrastructure (GI) approach to reduce stormwater runoff and prevent combined sewer overflow events. Promoting GI as a stormwater management technique in a city necessitates development of a more distributed urban environmental management system, through which the city's water department needs to coordinate with a wide range of public and private stakeholders, shifting power from the utility to these other stakeholders. We argue that distributed urban environmental management can lead to more inclusive outcomes but only if there is an intentionality about how funds are distributed, which communities are prioritized, how partners are chosen and cultivated, and which types of projects are implemented in which neighborhoods. We suggest the development of an equity index to help identify communities that would most benefit from GI investment as critical for equitable GI planning. Using Philadelphia as a test case, we develop a Green Infrastructure Equity Index, designed with the indirect benefits of green infrastructure in mind, to determine which communities could benefit the most from investment in GI based on their “equity void ranking”. We argue that developing a GI Equity Index provides a much more nuanced analysis of communities that takes into account the built environment as well as the underlying social and economic conditions. The GI Equity Index also allows for a shift in the way we define equity. In doing so, it (1) changes the conversation about equity in GI planning using careful data analysis that takes into account both socio-economic and built environment variables; (2) provides a visual tool that communities can use to understand underlying conditions and the existing placement of GI; and (3) serves as a framework that can be tailored to allow communities to weight their priorities, putting more power in their hands.     

A green infrastructure planning framework–guidance for priority,hubs and types

Green infrastructure (GI) has become an important tool to achieve sustainability and resilience in cities because of its various benefits, including stormwater management, urban heat island mitigation, air quality improvement, and carbon storage. Most existing studies have often focused on a single aspect, while few studies have incorporated the results of GI analysis into the planning process. To address this gap, we propose a planning framework to prepare the GI intervention solutions, aimed at identifying the priority actions, hubs to extract maximum multifunctionality, and preference types at the regional scale. We applied the planning framework to Wuhan city as a case study, and found an overall significant multifunctional potential. Two-thirds of the benefit pair (including spatial autocorrelation and bivariate spatial autocorrelation for benefits) relationships were found to be positive, and block areas approximately 15% of the total area were recommended as hubs to lay out the GI. Warnings should be received for evidence, revealing that industrial areas have higher requirements for GI that can alleviate the thermal environment and improve air quality. Strong positive correlations between various benefits were found in this area, especially based on a relatively large proportion of existing natural land. Further, we classified the types of GI preference by SOM (Self-organizing map neural network), and found that differentiated GI planning and strategy formulation are required by different types of regions. The planning framework provides intuitive guidance for GI intervention solution making, which can provide planners and government officials a deeper understanding of GI discourse based on clearly explained answers of important decision-making questions.     

A multiple scale,function, and type approach to determine and improve Green Infrastructure of urban watersheds

Green Infrastructure (GI) connects different types of green features via various scales, thereby supporting urban biodiversity and service provision. This study presents a methodology capable of identifying multiple functions to assess GI in less-developed countries, where such methodologies are lacking. GI was assessed based on a high-resolution land use classification using both landscape metrics and spatial data within an urbanized region of San José, Costa Rica, at different scales (watershed, neighbourhood, object). Results showed highly fragmented green spaces (often <10 ha), typically unable to support high levels of biodiversity, along with a low amount of green space per inhabitant (<7.4 m²) within the watershed. Substantially higher tree cover (x6) and tree density (x5) were found in the greenest neighbourhood in comparison to the least green neighbourhood. Potential areas for new GI in the form of green roofs (4.03 ha), permeable pavement (27.3), and potential retention areas (85.3) were determined. Several green spaces (n = 11) were identified as promising GI sites with the potential to increase provision (18.6 m²/inhabitant). The adopted methodology demonstrates the potential of GI for increasing recreational green space access, runoff reduction, and flood retentions while supporting biodiversity, validating its utility in guiding decision-making and policy generation.     

Spatial statistical analysis of the relationship between self-reported mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown and closeness to green infrastructure

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced alterations in the behaviour and psychological health of people, who have had to learn living under uncertain circumstances escaping their control. This situation has been aggravated in those countries applying strict home confinement rules to try bending their epidemic curve. This is the case of Spain, where the stringent lockdown period was extended over three months. This study aimed at proving a research hypothesis whereby living close to Green Infrastructure (GI) during the confinement period was beneficial for mental health. To this end, La Palma (Canary Islands) and Zaragoza (Peninsular Spain) were taken as case studies, since both locations distributed a questionnaire to address citizenry’s self-reported mental health under strict lockdown conditions. A spatial statistical analysis of the responses collected by these questionnaires revealed that variables such as stress, anger, medication use, alcohol consumption or visits to the doctor significantly decreased if citizens were close to GI, whereas people having very high expectations of enjoying the city after the confinement were positively correlated to proximity of green areas. Although these outcomes are limited by the inferential capacity of correlation analysis, they point out to a sense of relief derived from having visual contact with vegetated landscapes and feeling stimulated about using them for recreation, aesthetical or sporting purposes. The joint consideration of these psychological gains with the social and environmental benefits provided by GI emphasizes the importance of approaching urban regeneration through the design and implementation of interconnected green spaces.     

How the COVID-19 pandemic changed patterns of green infrastructure use: A scoping review

The use of green infrastructure (GI) has been established as a way to alleviate stress and the COVID-19 pandemic has placed a new emphasis on the importance of GI as both a coping mechanism and a source of recreation. This scoping review seeks to address whether the COVID-19 pandemic affected the use of GI, specifically the ways in which the pandemic altered visitation patterns and the frequency of the use of GI. This review identifies studies that explore the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and GI use and assesses whether the pandemic has altered the use of GI, including whether GI use increased, decreased, or remained the same and examines potential changes in visitation structure as well as other effects studied. This review also discusses how future planning for GI can consider the lessons learned from the pandemic. Key findings suggest that GI use increased, as did visitors’ appreciation for GI and its benefits. The use of local GI to one’s home also increased in importance. Decreases in visitation were typically a result of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and fear of viral transmission within GI.     

The multifunctionality concept in urban green infrastructure planning: A systematic literature review

Urban green infrastructure is critical for providing a wide range of ecosystem goods and services that benefit the urban population. Past studies have suggested that multifunctionality concerning urban infrastructure services and functions is a prerequisite for targeting effective and impactful urban green infrastructure. Moreover, urban green infrastructure with multiple functions can offer socio-economic and environmental benefits. However, there has been a knowledge gap in the planning literature to elaborate multiple ecosystem functions in urban green infrastructure. In particular, existing methods and approaches are lacking for quantifying and monitoring such ecological services and biodiversity in urban green infrastructures at different spatial scales. Therefore, this research aims to review studies focusing on the multifunctionality concept in urban green infrastructure planning. The study highlights the current status and knowledge gaps through a systematic review. Our analysis revealed that current studies on green infrastructure multifunctionality have focused on five main themes: 1) planning methods for urban green infrastructure, 2) assessment approaches of urban green infrastructure, 3) ecosystem services and their benefits, 4) sustainability and climate adaptation, and 5) urban agriculture. The study found that the five themes are somewhat connected to each other. The study has revealed a knowledge gap regarding incorporating multifunctional green infrastructure in the planning principle. The results suggest at least five critical elements to ensure multiple functions in urban infrastructure. The elements are spatial distribution, optimal distance, integrated network, accessibility, and public participation and engagement. The study further recommends research directions for future analysis on green infrastructure multifunctionality that are critical for urban planning.     

A systematic review on the ecosystem services provided by green infrastructure

Urbanization and climate change are endangering the sustainability of public spaces through increased land artificialization, ecological fragmentation, reduced resource availability, and limited accessibility to natural and seminatural areas. Properly managing Green Infrastructure (GI) can contribute to mitigating these challenges by delivering multiple provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural Ecosystem Services (ES). This would facilitate the implementation of strategically planned GI networks in cities for urban regeneration purposes. In this context, this study developed a systematic review on the ES provided by GI using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The analysis of 199 eligible articles indicated that more efforts should be made to address more ES at once, which connects to the need for conceiving GI as a strategically planned network of areas aimed at delivering diverse benefits. Based on the methods used in the items reviewed, geoprocessing tools and multi-criteria decision analysis are proposed to develop systems of indicators capable of accounting for multiple ES. These systems should also rely on multidisciplinary and participative procedures to encompass various facets of GI and represent the priorities of all relevant stakeholders.     

Challenges of urban green space management in the face of using inadequate data

Effective urban planning, and urban green space management in particular, require proper data on urban green spaces. The potential of urban green spaces to provide benefits to urban inhabitants (ecosystem services) depends on whether they are managed as a comprehensive system of urban green infrastructure, or as isolated islands falling under the responsibility of different stakeholders. Meanwhile, different urban green space datasets are based on different definitions, data sources, sampling techniques, time periods and scales, which poses important challenges to urban green infrastructure planning, management and research. Using the case study of Lodz, the third largest city in Poland, and an additional analysis of 17 other Polish cities, we compare data from five publicly available sources: 1) public statistics, 2) the national land surveying agency, 3) satellite imagery (Landsat data), 4) the Urban Atlas, 5) the Open Street Map. The results reveal large differences in the total amount of urban green spaces in the cities as depicted in different datasets. In Lodz, the narrowly interpreted public statistics data, which are aspatial, suggest that green spaces account for only 12.8% of city area, while the most comprehensive dataset from the national land surveying agency reveals the figure of 61.2%. The former dataset, which excludes many types of green spaces (such as arable land, private and informal green spaces), is still the most commonly used. The analysis of the 17 other cities confirms the same pattern. This results in broader institutional failures related to urban green infrastructure planning, management, and research, including a lack of awareness of green space quality (e.g. connectivity) and benefits (ecosystem services), and the related political disregard for urban green spaces. Our comparison suggests that a better understanding of green space data sources is necessary in urban planning, and especially when planning urban green infrastructure.     

Relationships between students’ demographic characteristics,perceived naturalness and patterns of use associated with campus green space,and self-rated restoration and health

There is increasing awareness of the benefits of campus green space in promoting student's health. However, information on how campus green spaces benefit students’ health is insufficient or limited to guide the planning or management process. As a result, the present study collected 897 valid responses to examine the differences in campus green space usage patterns among students with varying individual characteristics and to assess the interrelationships between students’ socio-demographic characteristics, perceived naturalness, patterns of use, and self-rated restoration and health using a structural equation model. The findings indicated that there were gender disparities in the presence of companions and frequency of use of campus green space, as well as discipline differences in companion presence. Additionally, gender, age, and discipline had distinct associations with perceived naturalness, patterns of use and self-rated restoration and health. Perceived naturalness positively contribute to patterns of use and self-rated restoration and health, while the frequency of use positively contributed to self-rated restoration and health. Moreover, students’ perceived health can be improved in part through the mediating effect of the self-rated restoration. The study findings demonstrated how campus green spaces benefit students’ health and provided valuable information for campus green space managers and designers. Therefore, we propose that presenting diverse natural elements, manipulating them in natural forms, providing feelings of wildness or friendliness, and eatablishing vast, high-quality, and diverse green spaces to promote students’ health.     

Can urban green space cure homesickness? Case study on China poverty alleviation migrants in Anshun,Guizhou

With the implement of China's ex-situ poverty alleviation resettlement (ESPAR) policy, nearly 10 million rural population have relocated with a better living condition in a short period of time, most of which have migrated to urban areas. The living environment and lifestyle of the poverty alleviation migrants (PAMs) have undergone dramatic changes, the resulting mental health problems may seriously affect their social integration and well-being. In particular, homesickness is a prevalent mental problem among the PAMs that demand prompt attention. Research indicates that longing for natural environment is one of the major causes of homesickness among rural out-migrants. As the main natural environment in cities, urban green space has been proven by numerous studies to have a positive effect on residents' mental health in various aspects, including reducing anxiety, relieving fatigue, and fostering perseverance. However, few studies have focused on the influence of urban green space on the mental health of the PAMs, especially on alleviating their homesickness syndrome. Using the data collected from interviews and questionnaire survey in the PAMs’ resettlement sites in Anshun, Guizhou, which has undertaken a heavy poverty alleviation task, this study examined the relationship between the physical activity, environment, function of urban green space, and the severity of PAMs’ homesickness, meanwhile paying attention to the impacts caused by different socio-demographic characteristics. The results show that urban green space is strongly associated with alleviating PAMs’ homesickness, and that all three factors play a positive role. Neighborhood green space is used the most, but suburban green space seems to provide better alleviation of homesickness. This study sheds lights on the critical role of urban green space for promoting PAMs' mental health, and aims to provide scientific reference to the planning and improvement for future migrant resettlements and urban green space.     

Numerical characteristics and spatial distribution of panoramic Street Green View index based on SegNet semantic segmentation in Savannah

Panoramic green view index (PGVI) is an emerging index of urban greenery, which attracts researchers’ attention in recent years. It provides a quantitive method for reflecting real-life feelings about green space in urban areas. The PGVI needs to be calculated from massive datasets, which can be realized by artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. In this work, we used SegNet, an AI semantic segmentation tool, to distinguish urban elements, such as buildings, sky, and people. In total, 6874 panoramic street pictures with an interval of 10 m in the Savannah Historic District were used for the analysis of PGVI and its distribution. Results show that both the PGVI value and its distribution types can reflect the characteristics of regional green space. Good urban greenery can be distributed normally, which also provides a method for greenery classification. The crucial factors influencing PGVI are the trees. Dense low trees with big canopies have a very positive influence. In addition, the grade and width of the road, the parks, and squares along the street also have an impact on PGVI. In Savanah Historic District, the road width of nearly 10 m, and the location near parks and squares, can significantly increase the PGVI of streets.     

Accessibility to urban parks: Comparing GIS based measures in the city of Padova (Italy)

Accessibility to urban green spaces is essential for urban dwellers’ health and well-being. For planning purposes different accessibility measures and indicators have been used. Some are only based on availability, others consider distance from residences, yet others rely on gravity-based methods that consider both supply and demand. Different indicators often provide diverse and sometimes contradictory results and many issues remain in developing a comprehensive measure of accessibility, and representativity problems remain in matching indices with reality. In this study different accessibility measures have been developed and applied to the urban parks of the city of Padova, in northeastern Italy. Effectiveness and reliability of ten indicators derived from these measures, in identifying needs, inadequacies and disparities in park access have been tested at the urban unit scale. The study confirmed that multiple indicators need to be used to provide a useful planning tool for the provision of adequate and equal opportunities for open space access to the citizens. The study has also shown which indicators can be replaced by each other without losing important information.     

Greening cities through urban planning: A literature review on the uptake of concepts and methods in Stockholm

Nature-based solutions (NBS) represent the most recent of several "greening" concepts proposed to support spatial planning and decision-making towards sustainable metropolitan regions. Despite similarities, the concepts stem from different disciplines and policy arenas and reflect various models of people-nature relations. This paper aims to analyze the uptake of greening concepts in scientific planning literature focusing on (urban) nature and landscape in the metropolitan region of Stockholm, Sweden, over the last three decades. It investigates what changes this evolution has brought in terms of the topics adopted, methods applied, and types of planning support put into practice. We identified 574 articles that reflect substantial research on greening concepts in the Swedish planning context. The articles demonstrate an initial prevalence of biodiversity with later increases of interest in ecosystem services and NBS. A detailed analysis of the studies focusing on Stockholm revealed Population growth/densification, Green space management and Biodiversity conservation as the most commonly addressed societal challenges. The most frequently mentioned type of green and blue element is Parks and (semi-)natural urban green areas, including urban forests. Methods applied were mostly quantitative, while mixes with qualitative approaches were only apparent in ecosystem services articles. Half of the studies involved practitioners or decision-makers, but only four seemed related to real-life planning processes. Taken together, the influence of scientific literature on the uptake of greening concepts in spatial planning seems to have been limited. Future mainstreaming of greening concepts in Stockholm and beyond could benefit from available data, methods and experiences, but will require more active translation and boundary management. Further research into science-policy-planning interfaces at city scale is thus imperative to advance more sustainable pathways for people and nature in metropolitan regions.     

Planning for a green city: The Green Factor tool

In recent years, new planning tools have emerged to aid planners to achieve multiple goals to sustainability. The Green Factor tool has been adopted by some cities to increase the share and effectiveness of green areas. This short communication asks how useful the Green Factor tool is and how it fits with the existing planning procedures regarding green areas through a qualitative case study in the city of Helsinki. The results show that while the tool functions well, improvements could be made in relation to monitoring, for example. Also, an ambitious target set in the tool could encourage or force developers to aim higher with the planning of green areas and construction, but existing regulations challenge its use.     

A GIS-based mapping methodology of urban green roof ecosystem services applied to a Central European city

Green roofs provide a number of different urban ecosystem services (UESS), e.g. regulation of microclimate, support of air quality improvement, or stormwater retention. To estimate the spatial variation of green roof UESS across an urban area, a GIS-based mapping and spatial analysis methodology was established and applied to the city of Braunschweig, Germany. Based on the analysis of available geodata, in a first step, a quantity of 14,138 rooftops in the study area (14% of all buildings) was found to be generally suitable for greening. This resulted in a green roof area of 3 km². Based on criteria such as roof slope and minimum roof size, nearly two-thirds of these buildings (8596 buildings, 8.6% of total number of buildings) were categorised ‘appropriate’ for greening and subject to green roof UESS analysis.The spatial distribution of green roof UESS was estimated based on the categories thermal urban climate, air quality, stormwater retention and biodiversity. Due to their potential benefits in the four UESS categories an overall assessment resulted in a number of 867 roofs (0.9% of total number of buildings) categorised as ‘high benefit’ from rooftop greening. Another 3550 buildings (3.5%) and 4179 buildings (4.2%) were defined as ‘moderate benefit’ and ‘low benefit’, respectively. The inner city area of Braunschweig appears as a hot-spot of green roof UESS, i.e. higher percentage of ‘high benefit’ green roofs in comparison to residential areas. The proposed method is a simple but straightforward approach to analyse urban green roof UESS and their spatial distribution across a city but it is sensitive to the quality of the available input geodata.