Using the Concepts of Green Infrastructure and Ecosystem Services to Specify Leitbilder for Compact and Green Cities—The Example of the Landscape Plan of Dresden (Germany)

Olaf Bastian,Karsten Grunewald,Martina Artmann

doi:10.3390/su9020198

Abstract

In the light of ongoing global urbanization and the high pace of resource consumption, there is an urgent need to foster compact cities. Currently, however, we lack integrative guidelines on how to manage trade-offs between urban densification and the provision of green space. Against this background, this study applies the concepts of green infrastructure and ecosystem services to develop a guideline for landscape planning to foster compact and green cities. The guideline was tested on the example of the landscape plan of Dresden (Germany), which foresees a compact city in a green network. Results show that the concepts of ecosystems services and green infrastructure can support urban practitioners in structuring the complex interrelations between landscape planning and compact and green cities. The developed guideline provides an integrative framework for modular landscape planning that: (1) reflects the spatial heterogeneity and properties of urban ecosystems and landscapes; and (2) considers cities as integrated socio-ecological systems. The case study indicates that a more comprehensive perspective of cities and their ecosystem is required, one that connects green with grey infrastructure. Further research should focus on how the green infrastructure concept can be refined to incorporate strategic planning for compact cities.

Highlights

One of the most pressing social challenges is the ongoing global process of urbanization, resulting in the degradation of urban ecosystem services and the loss of certain benefits to residents generated by urban nature [1,2]
Considering the contradiction between the need for compact development on the one hand and urban green space on the other, we argue that the concepts of ecosystem services and green infrastructure are valuable approaches to concretize Leitbilder of landscape planning dealing with compact and green cities, their biophysical structures and governance processes
By developing a guideline for landscape planning, we conclude that the concepts of green infrastructure and ecosystem services are valuable approaches to concretize Leitbilder under the umbrella of green and compact cities, in this way reflecting green structures, governance processes and, in particular, the multi-functionality of ecosystems and landscapes

Summary

Introduction

One of the most pressing social challenges is the ongoing global process of urbanization, resulting in the degradation of urban ecosystem services and the loss of certain benefits to residents generated by urban nature [1,2]. Considering the contradiction between the need for compact development on the one hand and urban green space on the other, we argue that the concepts of ecosystem services and green infrastructure are valuable approaches to concretize Leitbilder of landscape planning dealing with compact and green cities, their biophysical structures (in particular green space multi-functionality) and governance processes. In attempting to answer research question 1, we conclude that the currently discussed concepts of ecosystem services and green infrastructure can help to guide landscape planning towards compact and green cities by reflecting the socio-ecological complexity of cities They suggest ways to retain urban green spaces within urban densification processes by focusing on spatial structure, governance processes and multi-functionality as key aspects of integrative urban green space planning (see Section 1). Developing and Testing a Landscape Planning Guideline to Foster Compact and Green Cities

Developing a Landscape Planning Guideline

From Ecosystem Functions to Ecosystem Services

Findings

Conclusions