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)

Sustainability 2017, 9(2), 198; doi:10.3390/su9020198

Author 

Martina Artmann ^1,* , Olaf Bastian ²

 and Karsten Grunewald ¹

¹

Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, Weberplatz 1, 01217 Dresden, Germany

²

State Capital of Dresden, Environmental Office, P.O. Box 120020, D-01001 Dresden, Germany

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. 

Received: 24 November 2016 / Accepted: 24 January 2017 / Published: 1 February 2017

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maintaining Ecosystem Services to Support Urban Needs)

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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. View Full-Text

Keywords: green network;  ecosystem functions;  landscape planning;  multi-functionality;  urban biodiversity

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