Green and Compact: A Spatial Planning Model for Knowledge-Based Urban Development in Peri-Urban Areas

Patricia Sanches,Gabriela Celani,Fabiano Lemes De Oliveira

doi:10.3390/su132313365

Patricia Sanches, Gabriela Celani + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313365

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Abstract

A seemingly unresolved debate in urban planning is the call for compactness and the provision of intra-urban green spaces. This article defines a multi-scalar spatial planning model for peri-urban areas and urban voids able to reconcile medium to high building densities with the provision of ecosystem services. The research is framed within design science research, and the theoretical definition of the model was followed by its application to the International Hub for Sustainable Development (HIDS) proposed by the University of Campinas, Brazil. The model’s parameters and indicators derive from a literature review, case studies, and GIS spatial analyses. A series of expert workshops and a survey were carried out to test and validate the model. The results show that the model can support knowledge-based development in peri-urban areas with high levels of population density while ensuring good accessibility to green spaces and productive landscapes. The model can serve as a planning and design tool and support the development of public policies for other contexts committed to more resilient and sustainable development.

Highlights

The starting point of this research was the current planning of HIDS
We argue that, especially in new development, the definition of green infrastructure and nature-based solutions must be established concomitantly to the built form, indexes of density and other land uses
Green infrastructure and nature-based solutions need to be integrated into planning processes, and not considered as separate add-ons

Summary

Introduction

The starting point of this research was the current planning of HIDS. Considering the need to prevent further land fragmentation due to sprawl, infilling with the generation of compact and multifunctional urban spaces has become crucial for creating liveable and sustainable environments [9].In Brazil, as in other Latin American countries, new urban patterns mostly associated with the upper-middle classes, such as gated communities, have emerged in the past decades as a reaction to increasing urban violence. On the other hand, tend to be located in bustling city centres, and they are based on a different innovation approach, known as interactive or feedback-based, typically developed through living labs. They look less like parks and more like hubs, districts, or knowledge-based urban areas, and their aim is to “improve the welfare of the local community” and “the development of their regions”, connecting “the regional economy to the processes of knowledge-based economy”

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