Potential Elements of Green Infrastructure (PeGI) Inside the Core of the Village (CoV): A Case Study of Wrocław Functional Area (WFA) in Poland

Irena Niedźwiecka-Filipiak,Anna Witkiewicz,Justyna Rubaszek,Janusz Gubański,Anna Podolska

doi:10.3390/su14031611

Abstract

This article presents a study of the elements of green infrastructure in villages located in peri-urban areas. The research focuses on the built-up areas of villages, which together with public and private green areas, are defined as the Cores of the Village (CoV). The research was based on the Wroclaw Functional Area (WFA). The main objective of the study was to identify which sites in a CoV have the potential to increase Green Infrastructure (GI) network connectivity and how these have changed with the development of built-up areas. These sites have been defined as Potential Green Infrastructure Elements (PeGI). The study was conducted over three time periods: the early 20th century, the early 21st century and future plans. The research revealed that, within the historic CoV areas, there existed PeGIs that communicated with external GI elements, but that such connections between PeGIs and GI elements have not been taken into account in future development plans. Furthermore, increases in the area of built-up land have not been matched by an increase in PeGI area. However, through the creation of greenways, among other things, there is potential for shaping PeGI inside a CoV in a way which would strengthen GI structural connectivity.

Highlights

Green infrastructure (GI), among other things, has become one of the most widely discussed concepts in recent years, in the context of the benefits it provides in planning sustainable land use and spatial development [1,2,3], as well as the adaptation of cities to climate change [4,5,6,7]
The first part of the study focused on historical analyses concerning the occurrence and location of particular Potential Green Infrastructure Elements (PeGI) in the Cores of the Village (CoV) selected for analysis
The analysis of cartographic materials from the early 20th century made it possible to state that parks were one of the most important PeGI elements in terms of their size and presence on at least a single site in each CoV (4a,b) (The numbering in round brackets throughout Chapter 3 follows the descriptions of elements selected for the PEGI study in Section 2.3.1.) These were once parts of former manor houses (Galowice, Sulistrowice, Wysoka, including two parks belonging to two manor houses in the Wysoka CoV)

Summary

Introduction

Green infrastructure (GI), among other things, has become one of the most widely discussed concepts in recent years, in the context of the benefits it provides in planning sustainable land use and spatial development [1,2,3], as well as the adaptation of cities to climate change [4,5,6,7]. One of the applications of the concept of GI is resilient planning within functional city zones. This is a continuation of the idea of green belts, green wedges and greenhearts that has been in development since the early 20th century, in many cities around the world [12,13,14]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion