Highlights We investigated the change in visitation of urban green spaces (UGS) during COVID-19 pandemic. Social isolation reduced extent, type and distance of visited UGS on the basis of legal restrictions. Reasons for visiting UGS changed from non-essential before the pandemic to essential during it. Respondents missed visiting UGS regardless of the view of UGS from their window. Respondents expressed the need for UGS integrated within the urban fabric.

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The last decades have seen a major shift in the planning and development of ecosystem and landscape management in Europe. First of all, in line with international developments, the life-support-services of ecosystems have come to the fore through the application of the concept of ‘ecosystem services’. Secondly, drawing on the principles of landscape ecology linkages between ecosystems are being stressed through the concept of ‘ecological networks’. Thirdly there is increasing recognition of the beneficial relationship between access to green space and improved public ‘health and well-being’. These services and relationships are being linked together in both academic literature and policy practice in what is termed the Green Infrastructure (GI) approach. GI networks it is argued are discernible at different scales, and across urban, peri-urban and rural landscapes. Furthermore GI is considered as supportive of ecological processes whilst simultaneously contributing to better human health and well-being. Moreover, especially in urban regions, GI is being placed at the same level as other essential urban infrastructure. Recognising these developments the authors have devised an updated conceptual framework for the development, management, and analysis of GI networks by focusing on contemporary drivers nested together at the territorial level and with a prominent role for temporal considerations. The latter has hitherto been only weakly presented in the GI discourse. Development of the conceptual model has been informed by reference to examples drawn from across Europe. Finally, directions are provided for future research, and for developing and delivering GI in the emerging context of ecosystem services and human well-being