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38 © Idiata 2016 | Understanding the Role of Green Infrastructure
directly or indirectly, on our natural environ- Green infrastructure planning is a strategic
ment. To pursue sustainability is to create and landscape approach to open space conservation
maintain the conditions under which humans whereby local communities, landowners, and
and nature can exist in productive harmony to organizations work together to identify, design,
support present and future generations. and conserve the land network essential for
maintenance of healthy ecological functioning
Edwards (2010) wrote that the UK government (Firehock, 2010). As defined by Benedict and
has gone further with its objectives, stating McMahon (2006), “Green infrastructure is a
ambitiously that “sustainable development strategically planned and managed network of
means a better quality of life now and for wilderness, parks, greenways, conservation
generations to come …” with the aim to “… avoid easements, and working lands with conser-
using resources faster than the planet can vation value that supports native species,
replenish them [and to join up] economic, maintains natural ecological processes, sustains
social, and environmental goals”. There is a air and water resources, and contributes to the
general understanding and set of principles that health and quality of life for communities and
allow useful sub-definitions to be framed within people”.
the broad embrace of sustainability.
There are several disciplines that have
Within these broad definitions and interpre- addressed green infrastructure including plan-
tations there are three recurring dimensions ning, landscape architecture, ecology and
that provide the focus for action by different conservation biology, forestry, and more
interested parties: environmental sustainability, recently, transportation. In their book “De-
economic sustainability, and social sustain- signing Greenways: Sustainable Landscapes for
ability. Nature and People”, Hellmund, Smith and
Somers (2006) and Little (1995) provide a
The idea is that the above are not isolated but useful description of the field that builds upon
inter-related and whatever positively impacts the greenways movement
on one impacts all. Our previous discussion has
already established the fact that the environ- Green infrastructure addresses the spatial
ment affects infrastructure and we can now structure of natural and semi-natural areas but
begin to consider the role of green infrastruc- also other environmental features, which enable
ture in sustainability. citizens to benefit from its multiple services.
The underlying principle of Green infrastruc-
Green Infrastructure ture is that the same area of land can frequently
offer multiple benefits if its ecosystems are in a
Green infrastructure is a term that can healthy state (European Commission, 2015).
encompass a wide array of specific practices, According to an EC study (Natura 2000), green
and a number of definitions exist. Green infra- infrastructure involves land planning issues and
structure incorporates both the natural a large number of different stakeholders.
environment and engineered systems to pro- Bennett (2009) defines the function of GI as the
vide clean water, conserve ecosystem values ensemble of planning approaches that maintain
and functions, and provide a wide array of ecological functions at the landscape scale in
benefits to people and wildlife (American combination with multi-functional land uses.
Rivers, 2014). Green infrastructure – a network Benedict et al. (2000), define green infrastruc-
of healthy ecosystems protecting natural ture as “an interconnected network of green
resource endowments – serves the interests of space that conserves natural ecosystem values
both people and nature. It involves the design and functions and provides associated benefits
and management of the quality of ecosystems to human populations.”
including natural and semi-natural ecosystems
(European Commission Environment, 2015). According to NERC (2015), green infrastructure
includes, but is not restricted to:
- Sustainable urban drainage systems
Science Target Inc. www.sciencetarget.com
