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The Implementation of Green Infrastructure: Relating a General Concept to Context and Site

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  • Gunilla Lindholm

    (Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden)

Abstract

In the quest for more sustainable urban landscape development, the concept of “green infrastructure” (GI) has become central in policy documents and as a multifunctional general planning tool. GI is not, however, a simple and unambiguous solution. While in policy documents there are claims for more and connected GI, actual urban development takes another direction. The densifying imperative is hard to combine with an increased and more connected GI. This paper argues for a critical and diversified approach to the concept of GI, in order to facilitate its implementation in urban planning and management. Any kind of GI will not deliver all ecosystems services in any place, not without land use conflicts, investments and long term operating costs. This calls for a GI concept linked to actors and mediating conflicting values. Linguistic as well as spatial definitions of the two relevant dichotomies of “green-grey” and “public-private” are crucial in GI location, design, construction and management, it is argued. Overarching representations of GI will be needed, but not only pictured as a separate system, but also displayed with necessary integration to the whole urban landscape. Development over time will need an intersectorial implementation and management program. Some of the GI intentions may be implemented in planning processes, some through re-organization and redesign of public space, and some by agreements with landowners. To reach out to implementation in ordinary urban development, GI needs to be described in a way that establishes points of connection to a variety of relevant actors and organizations taking part in implementation of GI.

Suggested Citation

  • Gunilla Lindholm, 2017. "The Implementation of Green Infrastructure: Relating a General Concept to Context and Site," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-13, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:4:p:610-:d:95799
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ian Mell & Simone Allin & Mario Reimer & Jost Wilker, 2017. "Strategic green infrastructure planning in Germany and the UK: a transnational evaluation of the evolution of urban greening policy and practice," International Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(4), pages 333-349, October.
    2. Maggie Roe & Ian Mell, 2013. "Negotiating value and priorities: evaluating the demands of green infrastructure development," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(5), pages 650-673, June.
    3. Greet De Block, 2016. "Ecological infrastructure in a critical-historical perspective: From engineering ‘social’ territory to encoding ‘natural’ topography," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(2), pages 367-390, February.
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    Cited by:

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    5. Karsten Rusche & Mario Reimer & Rico Stichmann, 2019. "Mapping and Assessing Green Infrastructure Connectivity in European City Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-12, March.
    6. Angela Heymans & Jessica Breadsell & Gregory M. Morrison & Joshua J. Byrne & Christine Eon, 2019. "Ecological Urban Planning and Design: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-20, July.
    7. Simone Linke & Sabrina Erlwein & Martina van Lierop & Elizaveta Fakirova & Stephan Pauleit & Werner Lang, 2022. "Climate Change Adaption between Governance and Government—Collaborative Arrangements in the City of Munich," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-27, October.
    8. Gunilla Lindholm, 2019. "Land and Landscape; Linking Use, Experience and Property Development in Urban Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-15, September.
    9. Jiaxing Wei & Jing Qian & Yu Tao & Feng Hu & Weixin Ou, 2018. "Evaluating Spatial Priority of Urban Green Infrastructure for Urban Sustainability in Areas of Rapid Urbanization: A Case Study of Pukou in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-14, January.
    10. Hyun Woo Kim & Tho Tran, 2018. "An Evaluation of Local Comprehensive Plans Toward Sustainable Green Infrastructure in US," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-21, November.
    11. Seiwert, Anne & Rößler, Stefanie, 2020. "Understanding the term green infrastructure: origins, rationales, semantic content and purposes as well as its relevance for application in spatial planning," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    12. Tahvonen, Outi & Airaksinen, Miimu, 2018. "Low-density housing in sustainable urban planning – Scaling down to private gardens by using the green infrastructure concept," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 478-485.

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