Green Infrastructure Planning in Metropolitan Regions to Improve the Connectivity of Agricultural Landscapes and Food Security

Abstract

Green infrastructure (GI), as a concept and as a tool for environmental land-use planning at various scales, has burst onto the academic, political, and policy-making scenes in the last two decades. This tool, associated with strategic planning, offers integrated solutions for improving the ecological connectivity and urban resilience of open spaces, especially those affected by processes of urban sprawl, the abandonment of agriculture, and the territorial fragmentation of habitats and traditional agricultural landscapes. In spite of the advantages of GI, its design and implementation face a range of challenges and limitations. In this context, this paper has two objectives: Firstly, to address a critical review of recent literature on the subject, which, among other things, highlights the lack of references to the role of peri-urban agriculture in GI planning, and the positive contribution made by peri-urban agriculture to the local food supply and other regulatory and cultural services. Secondly, to propose a methodology to contribute to integrating practical GI planning in metropolitan regions to maximize the activation of traditional agricultural landscapes and the improvement of landscape connectivity in metropolitan regions for the reconnection of rural-urban relationships.

Building green infrastructure to enhance urban resilience to climate change and pandemics

“…Urban green (and blue) spaces may support high levels of biodiversity and provide a variety of ecosystem services—including provisioning, regulating, and cultural services—that are crucial to the wellbeing of urban populations, in particular in terms of human health benefits, both physical and psychological (Tzoulas et al 2007 ; Felappi et al 2018 ; Parker and Zingoni de Baro 2019 ; Spano et al 2020 ). Urban green spaces provide habitats for species and novel ecosystems (Andrade et al 2020 ; Teixeira and Fernandes 2020 ), agricultural connectivity and food security (Yacamán Ochoa et al 2020 ), purify air and water, moderate local climate, sequester CO 2 , reduce soil erosion, alleviate noise pollution, increase real estate values, improve neighborhood and landscape aesthetics, and enhance human physical and psychological well-being (Bolund and Hunhammar 1999 ; Wu 2008 , 2014 ; Bratman et al 2019 ). In their recent review, Parker and Zingoni de Baro ( 2019 ) summarized a comprehensive set of major environmental, economic, social and health and wellbeing benefits.…”

The Huerta Agricultural Landscape in the Spanish Mediterranean Arc: One Landscape, Two Perspectives, Three Specific Huertas

“…As highlighted by Arnés García et al, agricultural European heritage is gaining momentum as sustainable systems, adaptative traditional techniques with high resilience, and linked to local traditional knowledge, which preserve valuable cultural heritage. Consequently, their recognition in the FAO GIAHS' list is the first step to focus on disclosing their importance [65,66]. Moreover, perceived as multifunctional systems [67], these Huertas have proven to be a highly appreciated environmental and productive asset which, in turn, converge within the European directives about land uses considering them as an opportunity for the development of green infrastructure goals and natural flood management [68,69], or, as territorial multi-scalar connectors between urban settlements and Natura 2000 sites network, thus, providing landscape connectivity and contributing to improve an ecosystem services framework [70,71].…”

Green Infrastructure—Countering Ecosystem Fragmentation: Case Study of a Municipality in the Carpathian Foothills

“…[26] [27] Publications and measures that revolve around the problem and present what Green Infrastructure is in a clear way include the Green Infrastructure Planning Guide [28] or UNEP GRID initiatives. Such materials are helpful, but to properly play their part and have real impact on the state of Green Infrastructure, bottom-up efforts are necessary in the process of creating acts of local law [29] [30]. In Polish, Local Spatial Development Plans are such acts.…”