The Synergy of Ecosystems of Blue and Green Infrastructure and Its Services in the Metropolitan Area—Chances and Dangers

Rafał Blazy, Hanna Hrehorowicz-Gaber, Alicja Hrehorowicz-Nowak and Arkadiusz Płachta
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Rafał Blazy: Department of Spatial Planning, Urban and Rural Design, Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Kraków, Poland
Hanna Hrehorowicz-Gaber: Department of Spatial Planning, Urban and Rural Design, Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Kraków, Poland
Alicja Hrehorowicz-Nowak: Department of Spatial Planning, Urban and Rural Design, Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Kraków, Poland
Arkadiusz Płachta: Department of Climatology, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Jagiellonian University, 30-387 Kraków, Poland

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Ecosystems have become synanthropized, and the degree of their transformation depends on their susceptibility to anthropopressure, but they are necessary for the functioning of the anthropogenic environment. They provide many ecosystem services, yet they are often not protected in any way, and their value is not taken into account at all in the process of creating local development plans. The analysis of the blue and green infrastructure covered three municipalities: Łapanów, Gdów, and Dobczyce. To calculate the benefits of ecosystem services, the method of calculating the Ve coefficient was adopted, which would enable a more accurate financial evaluation of the local development plan and make the previously synthetic economic coefficient of net present value (NPV) real. Besides, the impact of water bodies on the financial benefits of ecosystem services was analyzed. Only the protection of ecosystems introduced by including it in the local development plan enables full ecosystem synergy. Next to anthropological ecosystems, there are also natural ecosystems, which are necessary for the proper functioning of the commune. The network of those includes green (in the case of vegetated areas) and blue (in the case of surface waters) infrastructure, and their synergy is the key to the sustainable development of the commune.

Keywords: blue infrastructure; spatial planning; urban planning; ecosystem services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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