Measuring urban sustainability: an integrated methodology to assess the benefits of urban green areas
Author(s)
Masini, Emanuela
Date Issued
May 13, 2020
Type
Doctoral Thesis
Abstract
Ongoing urbanization and population growth affect physical, ecological and socio-economic processes within and beyond urban areas. In this context, the physical spatial structure of cities serves as a basis for understanding urban areas in their entirety in order to achieve a sustainable urban growth. This PhD thesis deals with the problem of urban expansion and green space fragmentation. The well-being of urban citizens appears to be closely linked to a balanced growth of urban areas and to the availability of green spaces. Given the current trend of urbanization, the availability of Urban Green Areas (UGAs) is important an indicator of environmental quality. The main objectives are: (I) providing an understanding of socioeconomic drivers shaping urban growth (m2/inhabitant) in the European urban context; (II) developing a methodology identifying the elements sensitive to urbanization (urban sprawl) to improve the sustainability of urban development; (III) locating lands, that, if converted into connected elements, would enhance the connectivity of the existing Green Infrastructures (GIs); (IV) defining an index of priorities for increasing the GI territory; (V) assessing the distance between urban settlements and the closest Urban green areas (UGAs) access point. For the first time in the literature, a methodology combining the analysis of the distance to UGAs with the assessment of accesses point and UGAs usability has been proposed. The series of steps (III) to (VI) is applied on the municipality of Rome (Italy) as a case study.
Additional information
Dottorato di ricerca in Scienze, tecnologie e biotecnologie per la sostenibilità
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