Integrated evaluation framework for environmental planning in the context of compact green cities

Abstract

The research subject of this article is the strategic vision (or Leitbild) “compact city in the ecological network”. This contribution presents a methodology for “multi-criteria assessment of environmental concerns”, to support the evaluation of space-related strategic visions. The city of Dresden serves as a case study area because the official landscape plan is based on this progressive strategic vision. The presented approach combines geostatistical methods (landscape structure metrics, spatial multi-criteria assessment, weighting approaches) and a multitude of data related to environmental concerns. Based on the multi-criteria assessment, an index of landscape functions was calculated, and the ecological network can be differentiated in many aspects by adding environmental concerns. Based on the results, areas with multiple landscape functions can be indicated and areas with a need for action or with potential can be identified in the city area. The use of the insights in urban and environmental planning for densification, in the landscape plan or in comparable planning documents as well as in the concrete area-related planning (neighbourhood scale) can support efforts for compact green cities and prevention of urban sprawl. Moreover beyond the aspect of justification and modification of strategic visions, the methodology presented also offers the potential to provide a basis for newly developing space-related visions and to carry out a multi-criteria assessment of green and open spaces in the context of qualitative densification.