Green Neighbourhood Sustainability Index – A measure of the balance between anthropogenic pressure and ecological relevance

Abstract

Peri-urban landscapes grow more urbanised due to suburbanisation. This, in turn, makes them environmentally and culturally susceptible to changes. Keen demand for residential areas threatens the sustainability of the peri-urban landscape. Green spaces are at particular risk of conversion. Recently, researchers focused on the function of green sites in urban environments. What is more, research on green spaces involves mainly their mapping and analysis of spatiotemporal changes. Nevertheless, there is a research gap in the multi-criteria research on the hypothetical sustainability of green spaces and the identification of areas that are the most at risk of conversion. Therefore, the present study is an attempt to develop a simple technique tool for objective measurement of the sustainability of green spaces in peri-urban areas. To this end, we developed the Green Neighbourhood Sustainability Index (GNSI), with which one can assess the sustainability of the landscape and green spaces using spatial data and GIS technology. The GNSI was then put to the test in the peri-urban zone of Kraków (Poland). The research shows that as the area of agricultural land increases, the sustainability of nearby green spaces decreases. Forest land, on the other hand, improves sustainability. The structure of land use types in the peri-urban zone of Kraków is well balanced. It is both desirable and good for landscape sustainability and harmony. The GNSI can be among the aids used by decision-makers to take science-informed strategic spatial planning decisions to ensure the sustainability of green spaces and the proper functioning of the ecosystem in peri-urban areas, especially in post-socialist transformation countries.